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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1918, No. 28 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF 
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROUNA 



REPORT OF A SURVEY MADE UNDER 

TOE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER 

OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFHCE 

1918 





Bonk .Slu^XM 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

' BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1918, No. 28 ^ 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF 
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA 



REPORT OF A SURVEY MADE UNDER 

THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER 

OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1918 



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ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PEOCURED FKOM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PEINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

20 CENTS PEE COPY 



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CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Letter of transmittal 5 

Foreword by the survey committee 7 

I. The city of Columbia, S. C, and the rise of the public-school system. 11 

11. Are the schools of Columbia adequated supported? 18 

1. The early struggle to organize the system 18 

2. Efforts to obtain suitable buildings 19 

3. The inadequacy of the school maintenance tax 20 

4. The way Columbia apportions her income 21 

5. The amount Columbia expends on her schools in comparison 

with cities of the same class 23 

6. Citizens point to a high tax rate. Is it high? 25 

7. Citizens claim that the city is poor. Is it poor? 26 

8. Perhaps Columbia is not fully informed about the needs of 

her schools 27 

III. Insufficient maintenance means meager salaries for school employees- 31 

1. Salaries and the rise in living cost . 31 

The salary schedule in comparison with the wage scales of 

other employees 32 

Teachers' incomes compared with fixed expenses 34 

The cost of being well dressed 85 

The impermanency of the teaching service 37 

Columbia's salary schedule ' recognizes experience but not 

merit ^ 42 

A plan suggested for Columbia 45 

2. No provision for a teachers' retirement fund 46 

Meriam's study of this problem 48 

The Pennsylvania plan 50 

The plan for the District of Columbia 51 

IV. Insufficient maintenance limits the activities attempted 53 

1. The school department offers no kindergarten work 53 

2. Only a beginning made in providing opportunity for the 

exceptional child 58 

3. No instruction in agriculture given and no work offered in 

school-supervised home gardens ; 63 

Agriculture in the high schools ^_ 63 

Ownership and tenancy of farms 63 

What the course in agriculture should be 64 

School-directed home gardening in the upper grades of the 

elementary school 65 

Employment of negro elementary school pupils 66 

Summary of both races 67 

Availability and adaptability of land for gardening 67 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

IV. Insufficient maintenance limits the activities attempted — Continued. 

3. No instruction in agriculture given and no work offered in 

school-supervised home gardens — Continued. Page. 

The soil of Richland County 68 

Present agricultural interests of the home 69 

Relation of idleness and noncompulsory school attendance 

of juvenile offenses 69 

Present training and possibilities for future training of 

the city teachers in home gardening 72 

School-directed home gardening as a part of the school 

curriculum 73 

The recreational activities 73 

4. Neither manual arts nor household economy taught in the ele- 

mentary grades and but little in the high schools 75 

Home making the chief vocation of women 75 

The problem of the vocational training of boys : 78 

The situation in the white schools of Columbia 80 

Conditions essential to good teaching 82 

Special work should be provided for the Blosson Street 

and Granby Schools 86 

A typical village house, fully equipped, is needed 87 

Equipment needed for home economics in the high school 88 

Equipment needed for home economics in the grade schools 89 

The situation in the negro schools '. 90 

School lunches 92 

V. Iirmfficient maintenance has rendered the supervision inadequate 98 

1. The plan of pupil promotion 102 

2. The teaching activities of the classroom 116 

3. The results of the standard educational measurement tests 134 

The tests employed in Columbia 135 

A. The spelling test 136 

B. The Courtis arithmetic test 141 

C. The reasoning test in arithmetic 149 

VI. The holding pbwer of the system compares favorably with that of 

other systems 155 

The accuracy of the Columbia school census 155 

The superintendent's opinion 157 

The compulsory school-attendance law 159 

Advantages of the junior high-school organization 162 

Men teachers needed in the schools 163 

The senior high school 164 

The -junior high-school building 164 

Care for the growth of the negro school population 165 

An attendance officer is essential 166 

Over-age children in Columbia 168 

VII. Summary of general recommendations 180 

Index 191 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, October 10, 1918. 
Sir : I am transmitting herewith a report of a survey of the public 
schools of Columbia, S. C, made under my direction at the request 
of the board of school commissioners of Columbia. I recommend 
that this report be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion, for distribution among the school officers and citizens of Colum- 
bia and among students of education throughout the country. 
Respectfully submitted. 

P. P. Claxton, 

Commissioner. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

5 



FOREWORD BY THE SURVEY COMMITTEE. 



With cities, as with men and women, judgment should not be ren- 
dered on achievement alone, for the will to achieve and the effort 
to achieve, in the end, count for more than mere accomplishment. In 
the attempt to measure the educational progress of any city, then, 
account should be taken of the difficulties which have been encoun- 
tered, the effort which has been put forth in overcoming these, the 
distance traversed from the starting point. Moreover, there is no 
one best way known in anything educational. There are some ways 
which are better than others, but many of the ways which are con- 
sidered best to-day will be discarded within 10 years, just as many 
of the practices which were thought best a decade ago are now in 
disrepute. The educational process is not static ; it is not a cut-and- 
dried affair; it is not a dead thing; it is alive, and as everything 
which is alive is constantly changing, so it is with education. It can 
not be learned in a normal school, nor in a university ; it can not be 
gotten out of a book, nor from the pages of a journal; these merely 
help. In fact, the educational process can not be gotten anywhere, 
for it is incessantly shifting, changing, growing; it is in a state of 
flux, to-day something, to-morrow something different, and the next 
day something else. 

This is true because educational ideals and consequent practice are 
merely expressions of the way the mind of the group thinks about 
how its young should be trained. There can not be any question that 
the community group has a mind. The politician knows it; so does 
the reformer; so does the preacher; and the educational leader for 
each continually appeals to this community mind, trying to enlist its 
interest, trying to secure its indorsement of his proposals, trying to get 
it to put these into practical effect. The community mind, usually, is 
not so variable as the mind of the individual ; it is more conservative, 
harder to convince, less emotional about the things which secure its 
attention, and it takes a more impersonal view of matters which in- 
terest it; nevertheless, it does change its view. It can be influenced 
by individuals, and it does respond, though slowly, to the social mind 
of community groups outside itself. Because it is changing its con- 
ception of its own needs, and thereby its conception of the educa- 
tional needs of its youth, so, of necessity, must educational practice 
change in conformity thereto. It is foolish, therefore, for anyone to 
say dogmatically what educational practice should be, for no one 

7 



8 FOREWORD. 

knows what it should be, because no one knows what the social mind 
of the larger community, which is bigger than any local community, 
is going to think about its own needs and the best ways of training 
its youth to meet them. 

Mindful, then, of these facts the survey committee has not under- 
taken, in arbitrary fashion, to tell Columbia what her school system 
should be, nor how near the ideal in accomplishment she is, nor how 
far away from it. This committee is not competent to define the 
ideal school system nor the ideal school practice. It can, however, 
bring to Columbia's attention those practices which are generally 
held by other communities, for the present, at least, to be the best. 
It can compare and contrast Columbia's accomplishment with that 
of other communities in respect to these better ways. It can examine 
the difficulties which have confronted Columbia in creating her sys- 
tem, and can compare the effort which she has made to overcome her 
handicaps with that made by other cities. It can determine how 
much of the interest that touches the pocketbook the citizens of 
Columbia are taking in their schools. It can determine, too, whether 
the teachers, school officials, and citizens of the community are rest- 
ing in self-satisfied pride of accomplishment or whether they are 
eagerly seeking on every hand to burst through the bonds of their 
limitations. It can tell whether teachers are availing themselves of 
every opportunity at hand for self-improvement, and if not, it can 
point, perhaps, to some of the conditions which have inhibited 
effort. It can tell whether the teachers are wisely and inspiringly 
led into new pathways of educational progress, the treading of which 
brings an influx of new strength and the daily renewal of satisfac- 
tion. It can tell whether the conditions under which the children 
are working tend to establish in the consciousness of each the habit 
of success, or whether the school is starting the child on a career 
characterized by the thought of failure. In short, the committee 
feels that it lies within its proper province to determine, inf erentially 
at least, whether Columbia's school system in all of its parts is a 
live thing, growing, functioning, making blunders perhaps, but 
dynamic nevertheless, or whether the forces prevail which tend to 
bring about a static condition. 

To the study of these questions the committee has come with the 
utmost sympathy, but with a desire to speak the truth with complete 
frankness. In its effort to get at the facts it has received the unhesi- 
tating cooperation of the school commissioners, the superintendent, 
and the entire school corps. 

In its recommendations the committee has been careful to suggest 
nothing which has not been thoroughly tested in other communities 
and has not become a part of established practice. The com- 
mittee feels that Columbia can afford to give to her children an 



FOREWOED. 9 

educational opportunity which is the equal of that offered by the 
most favored cities of her class. Its recommendations have been 
made with this objective clearly in view. It will be impossible, and 
indeed, undesirable, to attempt to put into immediate effect all of the 
suggestions which the committee offers. The committee feels, how- 
ever, that as the board of school commissioners develops its plans 
for the future of the schools of Columbia, it will make no mistake 
if it gives objective expression to this suggested program. 

In justice to the superintendent of the schools the fact should be 
mentioned that from time to time in his annual reports to the board 
of school commissioners he has suggested many of the things which 
this committee recommends. 

The survey was made by the United States Bureau of Education 
at the request of the Columbia board of school commissioners. The 
survey committee comprises the following members : 

Frank F. Bunker, Bureau of Education, director of the survey. 

Carleton B. Gibson, superintendent of schools. Savannah, Ga. 

Henrietta W. Calvin, Bureau of Education. 

J. L. Randall, Bureau of Education. 

H. H. Baish, Bureau of Education. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, 
SOUTH CAROLINA. 



L—THE CITY OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND THE 
RISE OF THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 



1. THE CITY OF COLUMBIA.* 

The city of Columbia stands at the confluence of the Broad and 
Saluda Rivers, where they break through the irregular, sand hill 
belt which extends across South Carolina midway between the Blue 
Ridge Mountains and the coast, paralleling them both. The early 
history of this region is a story of bold hunters following herds of 
buffalo and the trail of the deer into territory previously unknown; 
of trading parties bartering at Indian camps for furs and hides ; of 
terrified women and children scurrying to the forts which had been 
established at various points for protection from marauding In- 
dians; of punitive military expeditions pushing into the interior 
from Charleston and returning decimated by fever, plague, and 
hardship; and of appeals to the English governor, representing the 
provincial government, for guns, ammunition, and military protec- 
tion. Then came a period when settlements began to spring up at 
various points — a group of Scotch-Irish immigrants on the north- 
east bank of the Congaree, in what is now Richland County ; a group 
of Germans on the Broad, at the mouth of Kinslers Creek; some 
German and Swiss emigrants from Orangeburg settling at the junc- 
ture of Little River, Cane Creek, and Kinslers Creek; and immi- 
grants from Virginia. The largest and most important settlement 
of all these came to be known as "The Congarees." 

A ferry across the river was installed at this point; flour mills of 
primitive character were established; a line of 30 to 60 ton boats 
was put on to ply between the settlement and Charleston; and by 
Revolutionary times the community had developed a group con- 
sciousness, for it is of record that during this period the settlement 
demanded that the district be divided and a court established, urg- 

iMany of the facts contained in this historical sketch were taken from a compila- 
tion made by John M. Bateman and entitled "A Columbia Scrapbook." 

11 



12 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

ing, in support, the fact that the settlement was nearly 40 miles 
" from the shire." 

After the capture of Charleston by the British in 1780 Lord 
Comwallis was sent into the interior to clear the region of hostile 
troops and to establish military posts on the frontier. Coming to 
the Congaree, he seized a house near the ferry, raised a parapet about 
it, arranged his batteries, cut down trees and constructed an abatis, 
and called the finished work " Fort Granby," after the Marquis of 
Granby, on whose staff Comwallis had once served. After the 
Revolution a town called Granby sprang up aroimd the fort ; and as 
it was at the head of navigation on the Congaree, with a ferry lead- 
ing to the up country, with broad and fertile swamp lands extending 
many mUes below, Granby came to be a place of considerable busi- 
ness, with a population comprising a circle of well-to-do, refined, 
and educated people. 

By a treaty with the Cherokees, in 1755, Gov. Glen secured a large 
addition to the territory of the Colony out of which the counties 
of Edgefield, Abbeville, Laurens, Newberry, Union, Spartanburg, 
York, Chester, Fairfield, and Richland (embracing the site of 
Granby), were later formed. Into this new territory settlers came 
rapidly from Pennsylvania and Virginia, but a wide belt of unin- 
habited country separated these communities from Charleston, the 
seat of government, which was the only place at which the court was 
held or the general assembly convened. In consequence of the 
hardships endured by those of the " upper country " in reaching 
Charleston, the demand for a more centrally located capital became 
insistent. In 1785 the matter was first considered by the general 
assembly and a committee was appointed to recommend a meeting 
place for the legislature. After much discussion and over the pro- 
tests of the people of the "lower country," a bill was put through 
during the session of 1786 which, when finally amended, provided 
for the election of a body of legislators who were authorized to select 
a tract of land near the Congaree ferry, 2 miles square; to break it 
up into lots of a half acre each ; to reserve 4 acres for public build- 
ings ; to sell one-fourth of the lots ; whereupon a contract was to be 
let for the erection thereon of a statehouse. 

Every purchaser of a lot was obligated to build thereon, within 
two years, " a good two-story wood or brick house, with brick or 
stone chimneys, not less than 30 feet long and 18 feet wide in the 
clear," or failing therein to forfeit the lot. No name was provided 
for the town, but a blank space was left in the bill to be filled by the 
legislature when the name should be determined. One senator sug- 
gested, in derision, that the new town should be called the " Town 
of Refuge " because, as he asserted, the town was to be erected at a 
point " without the pale of justice, situated in a place where sheriffs 



THE CITY OF COLUMBIA. 13 

were harmless and inoffensive, and where laws were laughed at and 
despised." The names finally voted upon were " Washington " and 
" Columbia." The latter receiving a majority vote was declared to 
be the name of the new capital. When the constitutional assembly 
was held in 1790 an attempt was made to have the capital removed 
to Charleston, but by a margin of one vote it was decided to retain 
Columbia permanently as the seat of government. 

During the first 19 years of its existence, the town of Columbia 
was governed by commissioners elected by the legislature, but in 
1805 the growth of the population and the need of making and en- 
forcing many local regulations raised so many questions of detail 
with which the legislature could not properly be occupied that au- 
thorization was granted for the incorporation of the town. By 1842 
a new era had opened, for in this year the railroad pushing out of 
Charleston finally reached Columbia. Since the coming of the rail- 
road and the things a railroad always brings to a community, the 
growth of Columbia in population and prosperity has been steady, 
interrupted for a time by the bitter struggle of the Civil War and 
the accompanying desolation and destruction, but now firmly estab- 
lished upon a solid economic basis which points unerringly to a 
promising future. 

To-day Columbia is a city with a population of about 40,000, with 
a property assessment roll of $15,500,000; with bank deposits aggre- 
gating $11,000,000; and with bank clearings of $1,000,000 per week. 
Railroads radiate in 11 directions and furnish 144 regular trains 
daily; there are 25 miles of street car track; 90 miles of sewers; a 
modem water plant insuring good water at high pressure; a 25,000 
horsepower electric plant ; 9 hotels ; 10 colleges ; 11 public schools ; 450 
miles of modern sand-clay roads radiating to every part of the adja- 
cent territory. Columbia is also rapidly coming to be an important 
factor in manufacturing enterprises ; 79 establishments with a com- 
bined capital of nearly $12,000,000 are situated either within the city 
limits or very close thereto. In 1916 the value of the output of these 
factories reached $15,000,000. The cotton goods alone manufactured 
in one year, if put together yard by yard, would reach around the 
earth once and with 500 miles left over on the next lap. There are 
to be found here also 3 " skyscraper " office buildings of 10, 12, and 
15 stories, respectively; 51 churches representing many religious 
denominations; a six-story Young Men's Christian Association 
building with 83 rooms in its dormitory ; a Young Women's Christian 
Association building; a chamber of commerce; and a $265,000 Gov- 
ernment post office in course of erection. 

Moreover, it should be noted, Columbia is situated at the center 
of a large and prosperous rural district. Its location, at the south- 
eastern edge of Richland County, makes it not only the natural busi- 



14 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

ness center of Lexington County as well, but the natural distributing 
point, also, for a large territory embracing portions of adjacent 
counties. A circle having a diameter of 100 miles with Columbia 
at the center would contain the whole or a part of 14 counties com- 
prising from 20 to 30 thousand farmers who are tilling property 
having an aggregate value of $100,000,000. Within this area the 
capital invested in agricultural pursuits is far greater than that 
invested in all other enterprises combined. 

2. THE RISE or THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

By action of the general assembly, taken in December, 1880, the 
State school law of 1878 was amended and provision made whereby 
the area embraced within the corporate limits of Columbia became a 
separate school district. This act placed the management and control 
of the new district in a board of school commissioners consisting of 
five members, one to be selected from each of four wards of the city 
(when the commission form of government was adopted and the 
wards abolished the commissioners were elected at large) and the 
fifth to be selected by the city council from among their own number. 
In 1883 the number was increased to seven, the two additional mem- 
bers being appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of 
the trustees of Columbia Academy. In addition to the usual duties 
devolving upon school commissioners, authority was given the board 
to hold, annually, an election for the purpose of levying a local tax 
on all real and personal property for the maintenance of the school 
system. Under the act an election for school commissioners was held 
in January, 1881. The new board, in turn, very soon called an elec- 
tion to authorize the levying of a special tax for school support, but 
the measure was defeated. A second call was made the year follow- 
ing, but again the greatly needed maintenance was withheld. To 
quote the official report of 1883-84 : 

At this time the condition of the city schools was deplorable. The school fund 
apportioned to the city from the county was totally inadequate for their proper 
support. The accommodations for white pupils were utterly insufficient, and 
the attendance upon these schools — never very great — dwindled down to a very 
small number. Very few of the citizens of the community availed themselves 
of these schools. The total attendance for the past two years had scarcely 
averaged 500, and of these a large majority were colored children. The length 
of the school session was but a little over three months. As the general school 
fund of the county is distributed in each school district in proportion to the 
number of children attending the public schools in that district, it follows that 
as the school attendance falls ofC, the revenue of the school district falls off in 
like proportion. As a result of this state of affairs, although the City of Co- 
lumbia pays into the general county fund about $7,500 annually, yet on account 
of the small attendance on the public schools the city has been yearly receiving 
in return scarcely over $1,700 as its proportion of this fund. 



KISE OF THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 15 

This situation led to a systematic attempt to get before the 
voters of the district the deplorable condition the schools were in, 
with the result that public interest in the school movement became 
aroused to an extent " never before known in the city," with the con- 
sequence that, upon making the third attempt, in January, 1883, a 
local tax for school purposes of 1 mill was authorized. 

Early in the same year, 1883, the board took up the problem of 
school organization. At the time the board controlled only two 
buildings — ^the Sidney Park School for white children, and the 
Howard School for negroes. The first step in meeting the difficulty 
of inadequate room was taken by making an appeal to the trustees 
of the male and female academies (Columbia Academy) for the use 
by the white children of the city of the two buildings controlled by 
them. 

The board of trustees of Columbia Academy, it should be stated, 
is a self -perpetuated board created by the legislature of 1792 for the 
purpose of establishing a free school in Columbia. The act provided 
that the commissioners of Columbia convey, for the purpose, to the 
first board of trustees and to their successors " as trusteees for the 
free school at Columbia," one of the " outsquares " or squares outside 
a certain exempted area, of 4 acres of land which were reserved for 
the use of the public. In 1795 a legislative committee appointed to 
consider the matter recommended that the trustees (of the academy) 
"may be authorized by law to raise by lottery a sum of money 
not exceeding 1,200 pounds to enable them to carry the said laudable 
institution into effect." Three years later an act was passed provid- 
ing that the funds arising from taxes, licenses, fines, etc., should be 
applied to keeping the market in repair, opening and keeping in 
repair certain streets, payment of salaries, and the surplus, if any, 
was to be paid over to the trustees of the academy to be used by them 
for the interests of the institution in whatever way they deemed best. 
Further maintenance support was obtained through a provision that 
half of the profits accruing from the ferry across the Congaree, which 
had been established in 1799 to take the place of the bridge destroyed 
by the flood of 1796, should go to the academy. 

For a period of years the male academy was situated on Sumpter 
Street, between Blanding and Laurel, while the female academy was 
erected three blocks distant on the site of what is now the public 
high school. The male academy was moved later, however, to a 
site donated by Gov. Taylor, and which comprised the block bounded 
by Laurel, Richland, Pickens, and Henderson Streets. Here it re- 
mained until 1905 when it was removed to make way for the present 
Taylor public elementary school. 

This was the situation when the board of school commissioners 
petitioned the trustees of Columbia Academy for the use of the two 



16 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

buildings which were under their management, urging in support 
of their request that the proposed public school organization would 
better meet the object of the founders to provide for the education 
of the people of Columbia in the broadest and most permanent sense ; 
that there were no subjects taught in the best private schools which 
might not properly be included in public school instruction; that 
the public schools admit of better gradation, more economical in- 
struction, and greater efficiency ; and that it is proposed that the lower 
grades shall be free to all, though the higher grades " may for the 
present, at least, be supplemented by a small tuition fee." 

The request was granted, and the two academy buildings were 
leased to the school commissioners for a term of years. This arrange- 
ment continued until 1894, when the property was conveyed to the 
school board in perpetuity upon the payment of a yearly sum of $100 
for a period of 10 years and on condition that there shall be at all 
times at least two members on the board of city school commissioners 
who shall have been nominated by the trustees of the Columbia 
Academy and commissioned by the governor. The Columbia Acad- 
emy board of trustees still exists, though without property or duties 
other than to name two members of the school commissioners. 

Thus there came into the control of the school board engaged in 
the task of organizing the school system adequate buildings for the 
time and with no more than a nominal expenditure of funds. At 
the same time a contribution of $1,000 was made from the Peabody 
fund to be applied to the salary of a superintendent. A superin- 
tendent familiar with the plan of graded schools was soon secured, 
Mr. David B. Johnson, a Tennesseean, and at the time superintendent 
of schools at Newbern, N. C. On September 28, 1883, the older boys 
of the city assembled at the male academy building ; the girls and the 
younger boys at the female academy building; the negro pupils, 
both boys and girls, at the Howard building; and the public school 
system of the city was launched. 

To quote from the report of 1883-84 : 

On Friday, the 28th day of September, the day of the opening, the city bell 
struck 13 strokes at 8.30 a. m. as a warning, and in obedience to the summons 
the children began to flock to the several school buildings from every quarter 
of the city. Promptly at 9 o'clock the opening exercises were held in every 
schoolroom. Until 2 o'clock the regular routine was proceeded vs'ith, and some 
recitations were had. Thus it was that provision had been made in advance for 
every pupil who entered, and 930 children — 550 white and 380 colored — pre- 
sented themselves on the first day and were accommodated without delay, con- 
fusion, or inconvenience. 

Prior to the opening day, and preparatory thereto, the board had 
adopted a plan of school organization which embraced among others 
the following features : An annual election of teachers whose quali- 
fications should be reviewed by the superintendent; a nine months' 



EISE OF THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 17 

session with the promotion of pupils made annually and determined 
by a formal written examination held during the next to the last 
week of the school year, followed by a public oral examination dur- 
ing the last week; a detailed course of study covering 10 years or 
grades, the 3 upper being considered high-school grades; a list of 
textbooks to be purchased by the pupils ; a single session each school 
day, from 9 a. m. to 2 p. m., with two 15-minute recesses; the holding 
each month by the superintendent of a three-hour meeting of the 
teachers "for the purpose of conducting a systematic course of study 
prescribed by him" ; a tuition fee of $2,50 per month for all children 
of high-school grade — ^that is. all above the seventh ; and the appoint- 
ment of an official "board of visitors," consisting of the mayor and 
the aldermen of the city, which body was expected to visit the schools 
from time to time and suggest means for promoting the efficiency 
and success of the schools. 
76482°— 18 2 



II.— ARE THE SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA ADEQUATELY 
SUPPORTED? 



1. THE EARLY STRUGGLE TO ORGANIZE THE SYSTEM. 

The system was not inaugurated without a bitter struggle extend- 
ing over several years and contested at every step by citizens who 
protested against "taxing one man's property to educate another 
man's child." Indeed, the movement toward a State-supported, State- 
controlled system which would provide free schooling for rich and 
poor alike was retarded in South Carolina as in other Southern 
States. From colonial days well-to-do families had attended to the 
education of their own sons and daughters, in many instances send- 
ing them abroad for their training. To meet the need of those who 
prized education, yet could not afford the expense of European 
schools, a swarm of . private pay schools had arisen. It had long 
been the policy of the State to leave elementary education to the 
parents, and of the poor particularly to private and parochial efforts, 
and to associations, such as the Hibernian, the German, and other so- 
cieties of national scope. 

In 1811 the State provided a fund the income from which was to 
secure to every citizen the benefits of an education, but it included 
the unfortunate provision that " if the fund should prove inadequate 
for all applicants, preference should be given to the poor." The 
fund was small and was entirely absorbed by the preferred class. 
Children of the well-to-do were excluded, and the scl^ools, in so far as 
they were independent institutions, degenerated into pauper schools. 
Only those could avail themselves of the benefits of the measure who 
accepted it as charity or who made a declaration of pauperism. Not 
until 1868 was constitutional provision made for the appointment of 
a State superintendent and for the establishment of " a liberal and 
uniform system of free public schools throughout the State." 

In part, then, due to a strong sentiment favoring private-school 
instruction or instruction within the family by means of tutors; in 
part due to the stigma of pauperism which the schools inherited 
from a former period ; and in part due to the impoverished condition 
of the South following the war and from which the country was slow 
in recovering, support of public schools was reluctantly given and 
in meager amounts only. Indeed, in Columbia long before the close 
of the first year's session the maintenance fund was completely ex- 
hausted. The 1-mill tax, so begrudgingly allowed, yielded but 
$3,200 and much of this had to be expended in rehabilitating the two 
18 



AEE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED? 19 

buildings which the trustees of Columbia Academy had permitted the 
school commissioners to occupy. These buildings were constructed 
so as to house the teachers and their families on the upper floors, 
while but two rooms on the ground floor of each building were re- 
served for classroom purposes. Inasmuch as the tax levy had been 
secured with the understanding that a nine months' term would be 
held, it was felt that failure to keep open for the stipulated time 
would mean a loss of confidence endangering a levy for the follow- 
ing year; so special efforts were made to keep the schools running 
for the designated time. Interested parents contributed amounts; 
the city council appropriated $900; and friends in Columbia and 
elsewhere supplemented these sums with a sufficient amount to enable 
the school officials to meet all of their obligations, 

2. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN SUITABLE BUHDINGS. 

This ultraconservative attitude of the citizens of Columbia in re- 
spect to adequate support of their schools is well illustrated by the 
story of the efforts made to secure proper seating facilities for the 
children of the city as the population increased. Though the public- 
school system was organized in 1883 and housed in borrowed build- 
ings, it was not until 15 years later, in 1898, that any provision was 
made for additional buildings, and even then only a two-room build - 
ing known as the Blossom Street School was erected. In 1903, or 20 
years after the organization of the schools, the equipment consisted 
of but five buildings valued in the aggregate at $22,500; furniture 
valued at. $4,000; and school lots worth about $27,000. The situa- 
tion was so bad as to lead the superintendent to say in his published 
report of that year : 

Well-informed persons have stated that South Carolina has the poorest school 
buildings in the United States, and that Columbia has, for a city of its im- 
portance, the poorest buildings in South Carolina. It is humiliating to say it, 
but this statement is unquestionably true, especially with reference to Co- 
lumbia. 

Three years later, in his 1906-7 report, the superintendent again 
speaks of the inadequacy of building facilities saying: 

In recent years, the city has spent $700,000 on permanent improvements, but 
of this large amount only $50,000 was used in the construction of new school- 
houses. The record, then, is that 93 per cent of the funds invested by the city 
in permanent improvements during the past 10 years was used in constructing 
sidewalks, engine houses, opera house, sewers, and waterworks, while only 7 
per cent went to school buildings. It is doubtful if this showing, as discourag- 
ing as it is, would have been made, had not the school board appropriated half 
the amount used for the erection of the schools from the regular income to the 
schools, while the teachers were being paid salaries sufficiently small to make 
living a burden sufficiently large to prevent them from concentrating their best 
efforts on their school work. 



20 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Efforts to arouse the public to a sense of the worth of their schools 
and to the realization of a need for proper buildings of a modern 
type were made from time to time, but yielded no tangible results 
for 22 years. In 1905, however, a building program was entered 
upon which gave, within the next 12 years a group of new buildings, 
for the most part, well lighted, well ventilated, with proper means 
for adequate heating, with modern sanitary conveniences of ap- 
proved type, and withal with pleasing architectural appearance. 
This program, completed with the erection of the present high-school 
building, provides a total seating capacity of 5,766. Inasmuch, 
however, as the 1917 report shows an enrollment of 6,104, with an 
average daily attendance of 4,555, it is clear that the housing accom- 
modations for the children of Columbia are barely sufficient for the 
present and must be increased with the growth of the city and with 
better attendance. 

This building program cost about $465,000, of which amount only 
$250,000 was raised through the issuance of bonds. Of the remain- 
ing $215,000, $40,000 was a bequest from a citizen who gave, also, 
four acres of valuable land for a school site ; $76,000 was alloted by 
the city council from the general funds of the city ; while the school 
commissioners were obliged to divert the remainder, nearly $100,000 
in the aggregate, from its exceedingly meager maintenance fund, 
which was never intended to be used for building purposes. 

In short, a city, now of 35,000 population or more, with an assess- 
ment roll of $15,500,000, with a school enrollment of 6,104 pupils, and 
with a school system now in its thirty-fifth year has outstanding in 
bonded indebtedness for school purposes only $250,000 — now $273,- 
000, as $23,000 was assumed when two county school districts were 
annexed. At first glance this low bonded indebtedness may seem 
commendable, but in point of fact, when it is recognized that this low 
record has been obtained at the expense of that proper equipment 
and that generous maintenance essential to strong internal school 
work, the situation is but another indication that the citizens of Co- 
lumbia either have not been informed in a forceful way of school 
needs or else the old indifference to the importance of good teaching 
and the conditions essential to good teaching still exists. 

3. THE INADEQUACY OF THE SCHOOL MAINTENANCE TAX. 

The history of local tax levies for school purposes, likewise, affords 
a criterion for judging of the tangible interest which the citizens of 
the community take in their schools. When the school system of 
Columbia was organized, the local rate was fixed at 1 mill on an 
assessment valuation of $3,200,000. The rate was raised to 2 mills in 
1884 on about the same assessment, and to 2^ mills in 1890 on an 
assessment of $3,500,000. During the period the State constitutional 



AEJE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED? 21 

tax had remained constant at 2 mills, which, prorated on the basis 
of enrollment, yielded Columbia less than $4,000 annually. In 1895, 
however, the constitutional convention increased the State tax rate 
to 3 mills, where it has since remained. This increase of 1 mill by 
the State was at once offset by the citizens of Columbia, who de- 
creased their city rate, putting it back to 2 mills, despite the fact 
that the average daily attendance at the schools had risen from 864 
to 1,825, whereas the assessment roll had barely reached $4,250,000. 
That is to say, during the first 12 years of the life of the public 
schools of Columbia, whereas the average daily attendance had in- 
creased 111 per cent, the amount received for maintenance from State 
and city taxes had risen from $8,540.81 in 1883-84 to $15,895.45 in 
1896-97, an increase of 8T| per cent only. Here the local tax rate 
remained, that is, at 2 mills, for the next 20 years, or until 1916, 
when it was increased to 5 mills. 

This increase in the city tax rate for school maintenance, granted 
in 1916, was forced on the people's attention for the reason that the 
adoption of a State-wide prohibition law automatically abolished 
the dispensary fund, which the Columbia schools had been sharing 
with other schools of the State and county in steadily increasing 
amounts since 1900. This fund was derived through a constitutional 
act, passed in 1895, whereby the net profits of the sale of intoxicants 
by dispensaries was to accrue to the schools and be distributed among 
them on a pro rata enrollment basis. Later the State plan was 
changed to a county system on a local option basis, and so continued 
imtil abolished in 1915. In 1912-13 Columbia's share of the county 
dispensary fund, based on enrollment, was $17,385.10, which was 
35| per cent of the entire fund. It was urged, however, that inas- 
much as most of the intoxicants sold in the county were consumed by 
the citizens of Columbia, she was entitled to a larger proportion of 
the returns. This contention was considered reasonable, and there- 
after, untilthe system was abolished, the Columbia schools received 
50 per cent of the fund and the schools in the county lying outside 
the city limits were apportioned the remainder. To meet the deficit 
brought about through the termination of this arrangement, an in- 
crease in city taxes of 3 mills was allowed, thus raising the total city 
rate for school maintenance to 5 mills. 

4. THE WAY COLUMBIA APPORTIONS HER INCOME. 

Yet another means of determining how much real interest of the 
kind that counts the citizens of Columbia are taking in their schools 
lies along the line of determining how Columbia spends her money, 
and the proportion of it which she gives to her schools in comparison 
with what other cities of the country are doing. The basis for com- 
ing at Columbia's rank in respect to this matter is to be found in the 



22 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 



tables of statistics compiled by the Census Bureau for 1916 and 
issued under the caption : " Financial Statistics of Cities Having a 
Population of over 30,000." Table 13, of this publication, shows 
that Columbia expended during 1916 $11.31 per capita of population 
(the 1915 population estimate of 34,058, made by the Census Bureau, 
was used) on her municipal activities, and that the amount was dis- 
tributed among these activities in the following way : 

For police protection, $1.95 ; for fire protection, $1.58 ; for health and sanita- 
tion, $1.02; for the extension and impi-ovement of streets, $1.99; for charity, 
$0.74; for libraries, $0.02; for parks and playgrounds, $0.56; and for schools, 
$2.29, The remaining $1.16 of the aggregate amount went for overhead ex- 
penses of city administration. 

In themselves, these figures mean very little. Not until they are 
compared and contrasted with the expenditures of other cities for the 
same purposes do they begin to take on meaning. The table which 
follows shows how the distributed expenditures of 213 cities look 
when viewed as an average. 



Distribution of city expenditures. 



Purposes. 


Columbia. 


Average of 
213 cities. 




$1.95 
1.58 
1.02 
1.99 
.74 
.02 
.56 
2.29 
1.16 


S2.10 




1.65 


Health and sanitation 


1.90 


Street department .... 


1.91 


Chflnt:1P5: . . 


1.34 


Libraries 


.24 




.67 


SCHOOLS. 


5.77 


All other purposes 


3.11 








11.31 


18.69 







While this comparison helps us to see where Columbia stands in 
relation to the actual average expenditure of the 213 cities con- 
sidered, yet, as her total expenditure is considerably less than the 
total average expenditure of the list, another table is needed to make 
her rank in this matter perfectly clear, and that is a table showing 
the proportion each item bears to the entire expenditure. This table 
follows : 

Ratio of school expenditure to total expenditures. 



Purposes. 


Columbia. 


Average of 
213 cities. 




Per cent. 
17.2 
14.0 

9.0 
17.6 

6.5 
.2 

4.9 
20.2 
10.4 


Per cent. 




8.8 


Health and sanitation 


10 2 


Street department 


10 6 


Charities 


7 2 


Libraries.. 


1 3 






schools:..: .::::::::::: ■:::::■; 













ARE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED? 23 

From this table it is apparent that, as compared with the average 
of 213 cities, Columbia's chief interest is in the police, fire, and street 
departments; that her interest in health and charity is somewhat 
less than the average of the cities listed; and that she is decidedly 
lukewarm in the financial attention which she devotes to her library 
and to her schools. Two-tenths only of Columbia's expenditure goes 
to the schools, whereas of the 213 cities of the country considered 
in these statistics the average expenditure for public schools is three- 
tenths of the aggregate. That is, Columbia's proportionate expendi- 
ture for the schools would have to be increased 50 per cent to bring 
her rank up to the average of the cities of the country. 

In respect to this matter of the part of the aggregate annual ex- 
penditure which goes to the support of the local schools, Columbia 
stands No. 5 from the bottom of the list of 213 cities. Galveston, 
Tex., gave but 18 per cent of her money to her schools; Tampa, Fla., 
18.9 per cent; San Francisco, 19.9 per cent; Savannah, Ga., 20 per 
cent; Shreveport, La., 20 per cent; Columbia, S. C, 20.2 per cent. 
Eliminating Galveston and San Francisco, in view of recent disasters, 
which have necessitated almost the complete rebuilding of both cities, 
we find that Tampa, Savannah, and Shreveport alone stand between 
Columbia and the bottom of the li^t; furthermore, only the small 
matter of 1.3 per cent prevents her from having that rank as it is. 

5. THE AMOUNT COLUMBIA EXPENDS ON HER SCHOOLS IN COMPARISON 
WITH CITIES or THE SAME CLASS. 

The foregoing ranking is based on the proportionate expenditure 
for schools among the several municipal departments of the cities 
considered. It will be interesting to learn where Columbia stands 
in relation to other cities in respect to the total amount of money 
actually expended annually for schools, for of course bills must be 
paid in money and not in per cents. 

Again referring to the Census Bureau's figures, we find that 118 
of the 213 cities expended $5 and above, per capita of population, on 
school maintenance, 1 of these being in excess of $10; that 80 ex- 
pended between $3 and $5 ; that 10 expended between $2.30 and $3 ; 
and that 5 only spent less than $2.30. These are : Jacksonville, Fla., 
$2.13 ; Portsmouth, Va., $2.21 ; Shreveport, La., $2.23 ; Mobile, Ala., 
$2.28; and Columbia, $2.29. So here, again, in terms of amounts 
actually apportioned to the schools from city income, Columbia ranks 
No. 5 from the bottom. 

The apparent indifference to school needs stands out even more 
strikingly when considered in conjunction with her rank among the 
cities with respect to the aggregate municipal expenditure actually 
made for all purposes. As we have seen, Columbia expended an ag- 
gregate from city sources for all activities of $11.31, but there were 



24 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 



68 cities in the list which expended less than this sum. So, putting 
these two facts together, we draw this conclusion: In 1916, whereas 
Columbia stood No. 59 from the bottom in her total city expendi- 
ture, she stood No. 5 from the bottom in the proportion of that ex- 
penditure which she gave to her schools. 

So far we have been considering merely what Columbia has done 
with her city taxes. It will now be of interest to determine Colum- 
bia's rank among the cities of the country in respect to the total 
annual amount derived from all sources, which was expended by her 
school department, exclusive of the cost of buildings and sites, per 
capita of pupils in average daily attendance. The statistical facts 
necessary to make this comparison are to be found in the report of 
the United States Commissioner of Education for 1917, the figures 
therein given being based on returns for the school year 1915-16. 
Combining the facts taken from several tables in the commissioner's 
report, we get the following results : 

School maintenance expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance for the 
cities of the United States, in 1915-16. 



Cities. 


Total expen- 
ditures (not 
including 
buildings 
and sites). 


Pupils in av- 
erage daQy 
attendance. 


Average ex- 
penditure 
per pupil in 
average daily 
attendance. 


Cities of the United States (all above 5,000 population) 

Cities of South Atlantic States (all above 5,000 population).. . . 
Cities of South Carolina (all above 5 000 population) 


$256,941,963 

12,313,538 

500,383 

207,867 

83,590 


5,762,197 

418,062 

30,685 

9,237 

4,029 


$44.60 
29.45 
16 31 




22.50 


Columbia 


20.74 







From this tabulation it is evident that even if Columbia doubled 
her annual maintenance expenditure per pupil she would still fall 
short of the average amount expended by 1,241 city systems of this 
country by over $3 per pupil. She would have to increase her ex- 
penditure by 42 per cent to reach the average expended by the cities 
of the South Atlantic States. She is ahead of the average of all of 
the cities of her own State, large and small, by $4.43, but when the 
small places are excluded, and she is compared with the cities of her 
own population group, i. e., cities having a population of between 
25,000 and 100,000, which is the grouping used in the commissioner's 
report, she is again below the average per pupil, this time by $1.76. 

Again, among the 179 cities in Group II (25,000 to 100,000 
population) of the commissioner's report, there were but 2 expend- 
ing a less annual aggregate for 1915-16 than Columbia. These are 
Warwick, E. I., whose expenditure was $4,292 less, and Lewiston, 
Me., with $453 less. However, in 1916 these cities had an average 
daily attendance for the year of but 1,857 and 2,426 pupils, respec- 
tively, whereas Columbia's attendance during the same period was 



ARE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED? 25 

4,029. As regards other cities in her own population class, then, it is 
obvious that Columbia makes no showing at all. Indeed, her rank, 
with this same matter of annual expenditure for school maintenance 
in mind, among the cities of Group III (cities having, between 
10,000 and 25,000 population) is not flattering. In this group there 
are 372 cities, of which number 204 expended a larger total on their 
schools than did Columbia. The average amount which these 372 
cities allotted was $99,047, which is $15,457 more than Columbia 
spent, and these comparisons, it must be remembered, are with cities 
ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 in population. 

6. CITIZENS POINT TO A HIGH TAX KATE. IS IT HIGH? 

Almost invariably, when effort is made to secure increased main- 
tenance for the schools of Columbia, the general property tax rate is 
pointed to as a sufficient answer. It will be of interest to look at the 
facts. 

Referring once more to the Census Bureau's figures, this time 
turning to Table 32, we find that the property owner of Columbia 
paid for all purposes during 1916 a tax of $36 on every $1,000 of 
assessed valuation. Eunning over the list of 213 cities again with 
Columbia's relative place in mind, we find that 177 cities paid less 
than $36, while 35 cities, only, paid more. If this alone were taken 
into account, those who point to the high tax rate as a sufficient justi- 
fication for not increasing school allowance would have some solid 
ground on which to stand, but those who make such a reply ignore 
one essential factor in the matter, and that is the proportion which 
the assessed valuation bears to the actual value. This same census 
table shows that the basis used by Columbia in making up her assess- 
ment roll was 25 per cent of the actual value. That is, the valuation 
upon which the property owner actually pays his tax is approxi- 
mately only 25 per cent of the actual value of the property. " The 
reported basis of assessment in practice," the compilers of the sta- 
tistical table state, " is for most cities an estimate, furnished by city 
officials, of the percentage which the assessed valuation of property 
forms of its true value." If, then, the taxes were based on actual 
value instead of assessed valuation, the general property tax rate for 
Columbia would have been $8.94 per thousand instead of $36. Com- 
paring this corrected rate with the rates paid by the other cities on 
the list, corrected in the same way, we find that every city of the 
entire list except three has a higher tax rate than Columbia. These 
exceptions are: Roanoke, Va., $7.76; Charlotte, N. C, $7.86; and 
Easton, Pa., $8.62. It is clear, then, that the true tax rate (State, 
county, and city) of Columbia is not high; it is low. Indeed, it is 
very low, for it comes within three cities of having the lowest tax 
rate of all the cities of the United States having a population of 



26 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA_, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

30,000 or over. The person, then, who replies to the appeal for more 
money for the schools by saying that the tax rate is high utters but a 
half truth which is completely misleading in its eifect. Indeed, the 
tax rate in itself is no criterion whatsoever, though popularly held to 
be such. It is the rate or basis of assessment in conjunction with the 
actual tax rate that must be considered in order that a city's rank in 
respect to taxation shall be properly determined. 

The tendency among cities is, unquestionably, to make the as- 
sessment valuation tally more and more closely with the true value, 
thus avoiding the misconceptions which inevitably arise where no 
such correct basis is used. Of the 213 cities listed by the Census 
Bureau, 122 report an assessment basis ranging from 75 to 100 per 
cent of the true value ; 48 have a basis ranging between 50 and 75 per 
cent; 30 report a basis between 30 and 50 per cent; while 13 only 
report using 25 per cent, or a percentage lower than 25. It is in this 
last group that Columbia falls. Invariably the cities having a high 
assessment basis have a relatively low general tax rate; whereas, in 
general, those having a low assessment percentage must have a cor- 
respondingly high general tax rate. It would appear that there are 
many reasons for concluding that this movement among cities look- 
ing toward a closer approximation to the true value when the assess- 
ment roll is made up is a commendable one. 

7. CITIZENS CLAIM THAT THE CITY IS POOR — IS IT POOR? 

One other statement is frequently heard, when the question of 
school maintenance is raised, namely : " Columbia is a city of poor 
people and any increase in outlay will work an undue hardship on 
her property owners." The statement that the South is poor and 
that southern cities are struggling along against an almost insuper- 
able economic burden has been made so often that the people at home, 
as well as the country at large, have come to believe it. In conse- 
quence, when much needed reforms are denied on the ground that 
the poverty of the community will not permit the cost, the answer 
goes unchallenged. Once, again, an examination of the facts will 
prove illuminating. 

The Census Bureau, referring again to the report " Financial 
Statistics of Cities" (1916), Table 32, gives the true value, estimated 
by city officials themselves, of the property in 213 cities of 30,000 
population or more which is subject to a general property tax. This 
estimate is given in terms of per capita of population, so that a com- 
parison on exactly the same basis among these cities is easily made. 
The facts are that Columbia, with a per capita true value of $1,836, 
as stated therein, exceeds the average of the 213 cities by $463; that 
she exceeds the average of her own group of cities (30,000 to 50,000 



ARE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED? 27 

population) by $718 per capita ; and that out of the 213 cities listed 
by the Census Bureau there are only 11 having a higher property 
value per capita of population. A table showing these facts follows : 

Estimated true property value per capita of population. 

Average of 213 cities—: $1,375 

Average of 86 cities (30,000 to 50,000 population) 1,118 

COLUMBIA 1, 836 

Pasadena, Cal 1, 882 

San Diego, Cal 3, 106 

San Francisco, Cal 2, 343 

Stockton, Cal 2, 195 

Shreveport, La 2, 053 

Boston, Mass i 2, 075 

BrooMine, Mass 3, 883 

Newton, Mass 2, 006 

Springfield, Mass ^ 1, 842 

Charlotte, N. C 1,999 

Madison, Wis 1, 903 

It is not true, then, that Columbia is a poor city. She is a rich 
city. Indeed, judging by the estimated per capita value of taxable 
property, she is one of the 12 richest cities in the United States. 
Even though this estimate which is ba^ed upon statistics of the 
Census Bureau collected from city officials themselves should be too 
large, nevertheless it is clear that Columbia is financially able to do 
for her schools all that needs to be done. 

8. PERHAPS COLUMBIA IS NOT FULLY INFORMED ABOUT THE NEEDS OF 
HER SCHOOLS. 

A community thinks as individuals and feels as individuals, but 
when it acts it acts in its corporate capacity. Before it acts as a cor- 
porate body the individuals constituting it must have thought to 
such purpose and felt to such purpose that a forceful minority, at 
least, have come to agreement. Then, and then only, can the com- 
munity in its corporate and legal capacity be expected to carry into 
execution the cherished proposal. Furthermore, a community, again 
in its corporate capacity, never acts until it is compelled to act, espe- 
cially when it comes to increasing taxes, for its representatives have 
been told in ways unmistakably plain that increasing taxes is a griev- 
ous matter, almost, indeed, as much to be feared as committing the 
" unpardonable sin." The first and necessary step, then, in any plan 
contemplating increasing the maintenance income of the schools, or, 
indeed, of any other group or municipal activity, is to enlist the 
active interest of individuals, as many in number, and so represen- 
tative in character, that their demand will irresistibly impel the 
community, as a corporate body, to take the desired action. 



28 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

It is a mistake to expect the men who chance at the moment to be 
the legal representatives of the community to take the desired action 
upon their own initiative. It is a mistake also to think that an ap- 
peal to them alone will suffice. They, as individuals, may be quite in 
accord with the proposal, but unless they can be shown that the 
project has won the ear of the community and that the community 
desires the requested action, they, as the community's trustees and 
spokesmen, can not, neither should they, commit the community to 
the plan. A community, therefore, and its representatives also, may 
appear to be indifferent to a given matter, whereas, in point of fact, 
those vitally concerned in it have not adopted the methods and taken 
the steps which are necessary to arouse the community to such in- 
terest that action will follow automatically and of necessity. 

Responsibility for the initiative in matters pertaining to the 
schools ought, of course, to rest with the board of education, the 
superintendent of schools, the principals, and the teachers. They 
know most about the kind of service which the schools are giving to 
the community ; they are the ones who know most about the present 
and the future needs; in fact the community expects these officers 
and teachers to take the lead in informing it of the schools' work, 
of their needs, and to suggest concrete plans for meeting these needs. 

It is not sufficient, therefore, if nothing more be done than for 
the board of education formally to request of the tax levying body 
an advance in rate. Those responsible must first present th^ir case 
to the people who make up the community. When the people are 
convinced of the need and are willing individually to be taxed to 
meet it, there will be no objection made when the matter is put up to 
the officials who fix the rate. The community in its corporate ca- 
pacity will have spoken and action will inevitably follow. 

The established method of winning the active attention of a com- 
munity is that of publicity, and no opportunity for informing the 
people about their schools — their aims, their work, their cost, their 
problems — should ever be let go by. Through the columns of the 
local press, through bulletins issued on special phases of school work, 
through talks before civic bodies on matters pertaining to education, 
through exhibits of pupils' work which will arouse the collective in- 
terest and pride of the parents, through the medium of the parent- 
teachers' associations, and in many other ways easily discoverable, 
there can be kept up a constant process of dissemination of news 
about the schools. Furthermore, it must not be overlooked that the 
parents of the children who are in school are the people who make 
up the community group and who determine what tax levying bodies 
shall do. It ought not to be a difficult matter to convince the parents 
of the educational needs of their own children, nor of the value of 
what the schools are doing, nor of the necessity for concerted action to 



ARE THE SCHOOLS ADEQUATELY SUPPOETED? 29 

secure relief. Doubtless it was this fact which the mayor and alder- 
men of Columbia, who constituted the "board of visitors" of 1893, had 
in mind when they said, speaking of the school situation of that year : 

Money is needed for the support of our public schools, and this can only 
be obtained by general taxation. Every increase of taxation is looked upon 
with suspicion by the citizens, but this can be overcome by fostering a greater, 
wider, and deeper interest in the public schools, by bringing the citizens and 
the patrons into close contact with the schools. 

In discussing the responsibility of boards of education in this 
matter of exercising leadership in securing funds for school main- 
tenance, Chancellor ^ makes a comment that is worth repeating. He 

says: 

If boards of education would spend half their time in work to get funds, 
they would do better for education than they now do. They prefer the easier 
labor of trying to reduce expenditures ^fter others have given them what 
money they choose. It is symptomatic of incompetence for a board to worry 
and to wrangle over petty sums rather than to go out and raise sufficient 
means to carry on public education creditably. The work of educating public 
sentiment to reasonable school appropriations should be carried on all through 
the year by boards of education. 

Until such methods of publicity, then, have been systematically 
and continuously employed, extending over a considerable period of 
time, and until definite programs calling for action have been pre- 
sented to the community and rejected by it, can it properly be con- 
cluded that Colimabia is indifferent to education and is neglectful of 
her schools deliberately. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The public school system of Columbia was organized in 1883 
only after a hard struggle to overcome those who protested against 
" taxing one man's property to educate another man's child." 

2. For 15 years after the organization of the system no provision 
was made for the erection of school buildings. No adequate building 
program was undertaken until 1905. The bonded indebtedness for 
buildings for school purposes now reaches but $273,000. 

3. Tax levies for school maintenance have been begrudgingly 
allowed. 

4. Of the 213 cities of the United States having a population of 
30,000 or more, Columbia stands third from the bottom in the pro- 
portion of the total annual expenditure of the city which goes to 
the support of the schools. Her proportionate school expenditure 
would have to be increased one-half to bring her up to the average 
of the cities of this country. 

5. In 1916 Columbia expended $11.31 per capita of population for 

I Chancellor, W. E. Our Schools, Their Administration and Supervision. Heath & 
Co., 1909, p. 340. 



30 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

all purposes, $2.29 of this amount going to the schools. Among 213 
cities this expenditure placed her No. 59 from the bottom in the 
total amount for all purposes, per capita of population; and No, 5 
from the bottom in the proportion of this amount which went to the 
schools. 

6. If Columbia doubled her school maintenance and then added to 
this $3 per pupil, she would just reach the average per pupil in 
average daily attendance expended by 1,233 cities of the United 
States having a population of 5,000 or more. She will have to in- 
crease her expenditure by 42 per cent to reach the average expended 
per pupil in average daily attendance by the cities of the South 
Atlantic States having a population of 5,000 or more. 

7. The true general tax rate of Columbia for all purposes is very 
low; excepting three it has the lowest true rate of the cities of the 
United States which have a population of 30,000 or over. 

8. Columbia is one of the 12 richest cities of the United States, 
having an estimated property value of $1,836 per capita of popu- 
lation. 

9. The school commissioners should take the initiative in inform- 
ing the public in forceful ways of the needs of the schools and of 
the service they are rendering in order that adequate maintenance 
may be secured. 



III.— INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGER 
SALARIES FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. 



1. SALAEIES AND THE RISE IN LIVING COST. 

The schools of Columbia organized in 1883 with a pay roll com- 
prising a superintendent at $1,500; 1 principal at $900; 2 principals 
at $675 each; 1 teacher at $450; 5 teachers at $360 each; and 10 
teachers at $270 each. Except for the salary of one teacher, the 
maximum salary of teachers remained at $360 for 19 years, or until 
1902, when it was raised to $405, Three years later, the maximum 
was increased to $450 ; in 1907, to $495 ; and in 1910, to $540. In 
1911 a 10 per cent increase was granted, which raised the maximum 
to $594 for regular grade teachers; to $643.50 for first-grade teach- 
ers; and to $893 for high-school teachers. During this year, too, 
the commendable plan was adopted, which has since remained in 
effect, of paying the teachers in 12 equal installments. Since 1911 
the salary schedule has again been revised. Through this revision 
the high-school teachers received an advance of about 7 per cent and 
the white teachers of elementary grade about 6 per cent. 

THE SALARY SCHEDTILE EXPEESSED AS A DAILY WAGE TABLE. 

The salary schedule as it now stands follows. It is expressed as 
a daily wage table, as well as an annual aggregate, in order that it 
may be seen just how low the salaries really are in comparison with 
other forms of service which are paid for by the day on the basis of 
313 working days in the year. While the teacher is actually on duty 
in the schoolroom but 200 days in the year, this is not by any means 
the measure of the time she is engaged in school work ; furthermore, 
her duties are such that, with few exceptions, the annual salary 
which she receives from her school employment comprises the whole 
of her income, out of which she must live the entire 365 days of the 
year. It is, therefore, fair, for purpose of comparison, to show what 
her annual salary amounts to when distributed among the 313 work- 
ing days of a year. 

It may be objected, too, that the teacher's daily program of work 
is not so long as that of workers in other lines, and that therefore 
such a comparison as this is not fair. It is true that in most systems 
the teacher does not go on duty until 8.30 a. m., and that she can 
leave her school when the children are dismissed at 4 p. m. (in 
Columbia 2.30 p. m., owing to the employment of the single-session 

31 



32 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 



plan) ; yet in practice, in many instances, her work keeps her from 
half an hour to an hour longer. Furthermore, at all times she is 
subject to call, by superintendent, supervisor, or principals to attend 
meetings and conference on school matters. Moreover, the fact 
should not be overlooked that with most workers, when quitting time 
comes at the close of the day, the work is dismissed from mind until 
the next day, whereas with the conscientious teacher, as with the 
housewife, her work truly is never done. 





Wage schedule of school corps, 


ColumUa, 1918. 




Superintendents and teachers. 


Per year. 


Per work- 
ing day. 


Superintendent . . . . . . 


$2, .500. 00 

1,200.00 

900.00 

l,30D.OO 

1,000.00 

900.00 

693.00 

650.00 

500.00 
643.50 
300.00 

1,600.00 
900.00 

900.00 
1,080.00 

693.00 
742.50 
396.00 

600.00 
540.00 


S8.00 


Supervisor of element 
Supervisor of music 


ary "schools . . 










2 87 


Principals: 

3 at (each) 


ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 




4.15 


2 at 


3.19 


1 at 


2.87 


1 at . . . 


2 21 




2.07 


Teachers: 
White— 

MiniiTiiiTn. 


I 59 


MairimnTn 


2.05 


Colored 




Principals: 


HIGH SCHOOLS. 






1 (colored) at.. 


2.87 


Teachers: 

White men— 


2.87 


Ma-jfirnnm 


3.45 


White women- 


2.21 




2.37 


Colored 


1.26 


Special teachers: 






1.92 


1 domestic-science 


woman . . . . 




1.72 











THE SALARY SCHEDULE IN COMPARISON WITH THE WAGE SCALES OF OTHEB 
EMPLOYEES. 

It will prove of interest to compare the forgoing schedule for the 
school corps with the schedule in force among the employees of Co- 
lumbia's municipal organization; with that adopted by her trades' 
union ; and with that applying to the motormen and conductors of her 
street railway system. 

Wage schedule of city employees, Columhia, 1918. 



Employees. 


Per year. 


Per work- 
ing day. 




$2,000 
1,500 
.1,056 
990 
1,800 
1,320 
1,320 




Chief engineer of fire department 


4 79 


Assistant engineer of fire department 


3 37 


Firemen 


3 16 


Chief of police department 




Captain of police department 


4 21 


Clerk of police department , 


4.21 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGEE, SALARIES. 33 

Wage schedule of city employees, ColumMa, 1918 — Continued. 



Emyloyees. 



Per work- 
ing day. 



Detective, police department 

Patrolmen, police department 

Engineer-superintendent of waterworks. . 

Chief engineer of waterworks 

Engineer, waterworks 

Clerk, waterworks 

Fireman, waterworks 

Stenographer 

Readers for meters, waterworks 

Helpers, waterworks 

Head of garbage department 

Drivers, garbage department 

Playground super\isor 

Assistant superintendent, trees and parks 

Foreman 

Driver 

Laborers 

Foreman of streets 

Assistants 

Laborers 

City clerk and treasurer 

Assistant clerk and treasurer 

Stenographer 



$3.80 
3.16 
6.41 

4! 22 
5.36 
4.54 
2.86 
3.19 
1.75 
2.95 
2.28 

4! 79 
3.00 
2.00 
1.50 
3.83 
2.24 
1.50 
7.66 
4.79 
2.87 



Wage schedule of trades-union, Columbia, 1918. 



Approximate 
amount 
per day. 

Plumbers $6. 00 

Granite lentters 4. 50 

Printers 4. 50 

Machinists 4. 00 

Bricklayers 4. 00 

Carpenters 4. 00 

Electricians 4. 00 

Brickmakers 4. 00 



Approximate 
amount 
per day. 

Musicians 4. 00 

Barbers 3. 50 

Railway learners 3. 50 

Pressmen 3. 50 

Painters 3. 50 

Sheet-metal workers 3.50 

Theatrical workers 3. 00 

Railway clerks 3. 00 



Wage schedule of motormen and conductors, Columbia, 1918. 

Per 

working 

day. 

Under 6 months $2. 00 

Six to 12 months 2. 25 

Above 12 months 3. 00 

All time above 10 hours per day carries one and one-half times regular rate. 

It will prove instructive to make some comparisons based on the 
foregoing schedules. The white teachers of the elementary schools, 
it will be observed, get from $1.59 to $2.05 per day; if the women 
teachers in the high school be included the maximum reaches $2,37 
per day. From $1.59 to $2.37 per day, then, marks the range of all 
salaries paid to the white women teachers of the system. Turning 
to the other schedules we find that the drivers of the garbage wagons, 
the laborers on the streets, in the parks, and waterworks, the 
" assistants " in the street department, and motormen and conductors 
who have served less than a year are the only workers among all 
these people whose daily wage falls below the maximum given to the 
best-paid woman teacher in the department. The stenographers in 
the employ of the city are getting, according to the schedule, 50 cents 
76482°— 18 3 



34 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

a day more than the best-paid high-school woman and 82 cents per 
day more than the best-paid teacher in the grades. 

The men teachers of the high school are getting from $2.87 to $3.45 
per day. This higher rate places them in the financial class compris- 
ing the stenographers of the municipal departments, the firemen, po- 
licemen, meter readers, motormen, and conductors who have been a 
year in the service, barbers, railway learners, pressmen, painters, 
sheet-metal workers, theatrical workers, and railway clerks. While 
in the group made up of bricklayers, brickmakers, carpenters, elec- 
tricians, and musicians are to be found the principals of the largest 
elementary schools of the city, who are getting $4.15 each per day. 

It is not to be understood that the survey committee feels that the 
salaries of these workers are too high, indeed it wonders that the 
city can secure the service of capable men to head its various depart- 
ments at the salaries which are paid. The committee's purpose is 
merely that of showing how inadequate the salary schedule of the 
school corps is in comparison with the wages paid workers in other 
lines, many of them requiring no such preliminary outlay for their 
preparation as that demanded of the school staff. 

teachers' incomes compaeed with fixed expenses. 

Another way of grasping the inadequacy of teachers' salaries is 
that of comparing their income with the fixed living expenses, for 
no one, surely, would argue that a teacher who gives her entire time 
to school work should not receive as compensation a wage that will 
support her in reasonable comfort and with a margin for eifier- 
gencies. 

There are 90 white teachers in the schools of Columbia ; 39 of these 
report that they pay for their room and board, inclusive of fuel and 
laundry, an amount ranging from $27 per month to $45. The aver- 
age expenditure for these items is $34. In addition, some 30 of 
the teachers pay car fare in going to and from their schools, which 
means an additional outlay of at least $2 per month. The average 
fixed expense for the teaching corps, then, ranges from $34 to $36 
per month. The average aggregate fixed expense for the teaching 
year of 9 months, therefore, falls between $306 and $324, or about 
$315. 

Summarizing the foregoing and comparing with the fixed income, 
the following is the result : 



IN"SUFriCIENT MAINTEN-ANCE MEANS MEAGEE SALARIES. 35 

Income and expenses of teachers. 





Elementary white 
women. 


High-school wUte 
women. 




IVfinimnni. 


Maximum. 


\rinimnm. 


Maximum. 




$500.00 
315.00 


$643.50 
315.00 


$693.00 
315.00 


$742.50 


Fixed expense for 9 months 


315.00 








185.00 


328.50 


378.00 


427.50 







Out of this balance, ranging from a minimum of $185 to a maxi- 
mum of $427.50 among high-school women, the teacher must live for 
the remaining three months of the year; must provide her clothing 
for the entire year ; must pay for her books, magazines, papers, lec- 
tures, and her summer school, if she attends ; must provide for char- 
ity, for recreation, for life insurance, for doctor's bills, and for those 
dependent upon her, and many teachers are helping to support 
others ; and must make her provision for the coming of the inevitable 
" rainy day." The magnitude of the problem confronting the teacher 
of Columbia can be appreciated to some extent when a study is made 
of the outlay she must make for clothing alone. 

THE COST OF BEING WELL DBESSED. 

To get at this is not a simple matter, for such a study involves set- 
ting up a minimum clothing standard for a group of women the 
members of which vary greatly in taste, in knowledge of materials 
and of styles, in purchasing ability, in capacity to mend garments 
and to "make over" old garments, and in ability to prevent the 
general wear and tear to which clothing is subject. As compared, 
however, with the women workers in other lines of work the stand- 
ard required of the teacher in order that she may present that 
" smart " appearance which children appreciate and which her own 
self-respect demands it must be recognized is comparatively high, 
quite as high, indeed, as that expected of saleswomen, clerks, and 
stenographers. A study of the cost of being well dressed was recently 
made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the results of 
which study will provide a basis, at least, for conclusions regarding 
the cost which teachers are put to in clothing themselves. 

This study was made of the clothing expenditures of 53 women 
workers of Washington, D. C, for the year 1916, and was based on 
the prices which prevailed during the later part of 1916 and the early 
part of 1917. All of the women were living away from home; and 
most of them were boarding in working girls' homes, in private 
families, and in boarding houses, although a few rented rooms and 
did their own food purchasing and cooking. All were between the 



36 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 



ages of 19 and 35 years and were self-supporting ; 17 were employed 
in Government work, 13 in business offices, and 5 in telephone offices. 
The table which follows shows the average amounts expended by 
these women for " outside clothing " and also for the separate items 
of dress which are commonly worn by women and of which, as a rule, 
it is necessary to purchase a supply each year. 



Average yearly expenditure for items of clothing, by income 


groups. 






Outside 




other articles of dress. 










cloth- 
(slSts, 
































ber 

of 

women. 


coats, 
















AU 


Annual income. 


sweat- 














Mis- 
cella- 
neous. 


cloth- 




ers, 
dresses, 
waists. 


Hats. 


Shoes. 


Gloves. 


Stock- 
ings. 


Cor- 
sets. 


Under- 
wear. 


mg. 






dress 






















sliirts). 


















Under $300 


4 
6 


$19. 78 
32.63 


$5.19 
4.45 


$7.59 
7.10 


$0.77 
1.23 


$2.74 
3.42 


$2.25 
1.91 


$3.13 
4.62 


$2.99 

8.80 


$44.42 


$300 and under $400. 


64. 15 


$400 and under $500. 




45.80 


9.33 


12.06 


3.19 


6.02 


2.48 


7.11 


10.79 


96.77 


$500 and under $550. 


8 


47.50 


10.31 


13.50 


2. 88 


5.83 


4.13 


5.22 


9.99 


99.35 


$550 and under $600. 


5 


72.48 


13.80 


16.69 


4.46 


6.20 


2.30 


7.05 


19.21 


142. 19 


$600 and under $700. 


7 


57.55 


12.71 


14.29 


2.62 




2.93 


6.37 


7.42 


107. 77 


$700 and under $800. 


7 


66.78 


13.47 


16.71 


5.32 


6.89 


3.79 


11.39 


16.82 


141.17 


$800 and under $1,100 


8 


99.34 


19.06 


21.25 


6.00 


7.25 


6.06 


9.94 


32.23 


201.13 


All groups 


53 


57.58 


11.59 


14.20 


3.32 


5.53 


3.41 


7.18 


14.27 


117.49 



An examination of the distribution shown in this tabulation must 
convince anyone who is at all familiar with the requirements and 
cost of women's apparel that, except possibly for the group which 
expended the maximum average, these women dressed on amounts 
which would by no means meet the standard which public opinion 
demands of teachers. For, as a class, teachers are expected to identify 
themselves with the activities (social, civic, and religious) of the 
community to a much greater degree than the class of workers upon 
whom the foregoing study was based. It can not be doubted that the 
maximum average expenditure, $201.13, is none too much for the 
teaching class; indeed, considering the advance in prices during the 
year 1917 (the study was based on 1916 conditions), it would seem 
that a yearly allowance for clothing ranging from $150 to $200 could 
not properly be considered extravagant. Recalling the fact that 
Columbia teachers, after paying for board, room, laundry, and car- 
fare, have left an amount falling between the limits of $185 and 
$427.50, out of which they must not only provide their yearly allow- 
ance of clothing but their living expenses for the remaining three 
months as well, the fact must stand out very clearly that the teacher 
of Columbia is facing an impossible situation, and it is obvious, too, 
that with a salary margin so narrow the Columbia schools can oJffer 
no career which can possibly prove attractive to an ambitious and 
capable woman. A precarious existence can be eked out, it is true, if 



IKSUPPICIEIS^T MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGER SALARIES. 



37 



the teacher is blessed with a generous measure of good health, but 
Avith such a limited balance as the figures disclose it is certain that 
there can be no adequate and systematically pursued plan of self- 
improvement which prefessional standards properly demand in in- 
creasing degree and which is contingent on a sufficient margin of 
income and of time. 



THE IMPEBMANENCy OF THE TEACHING SEEVICE. 

Confronted with such a problem, it is to be expected that there 
will have been many teachers who will have entered the public-school 
service intending to remain but a short time, two or three years at 
most, and determined to drop out at the first opportunity. An exam- 
ination of Columbia's records with length of service in mind dis- 
closes the fact that since the schools were organized in 1883 there 
have been 335 teachers employed; 248 of whom dropped out during 
the first five years of their service, 210 during the first four years, 
172 during the first three years, and 124 continued no longer than 
two years, of which number, 63 left after having been in the depart- 
ment but one year. Putting this situation another way, it is correct 
to say that there were as many teachers who remained three years 
and less as there were those who remained longer than three years. 
That is, in the language of the statisticians, three years is the median 
or middle point of service. A table showing these facts in detail 
follows : 

Period of teaching service, Columbia, 1918. 







Years. 




1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 




10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


16 


White teachers 


52 
11 


38 
23 


34 
14 


32 
6 


26 
12 


9 
6 


7 
1 


6 

1 


4 
1 


4 
3 


2 
4 


3 
5 


4 

1 


3 

1 


2 




?. 








Total. 


63 


61 


48 


38 


38 


15 


8 


7 


5 


7 


6 


8 


5 


4 


4 








Years. 




18 


20 


21 


22 


23 


26 


27 


28 


29 


35 


Total. 


White teachers 


4 
3 


1 



1 



3 


1 



1 




1 






1 






240 


Negro teachers. . 


95 






Total 


7 


1 


1 


■^ 


1 


1 


I 


1 


I 


' 


335 


















1 











Such impermanency in the teaching corps as these facts disclose 
must seriously handicap the superintendent and his supervisors in 
working out a unified, consistent, and well coordinated educational 
policy. Furthermore, it is clear that teachers who enter the de- 
partment to leave it at the first opportunity are not going to give to 
their work that unremitting application necessary to secure the best 



38 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

results. Even under the most favorable conditions there will always 
be many transients among teachers, but good instructional opportu- 
nity for the children requires that serious effort be made to stabilize 
the teaching force. Offering good salaries is one way which will help 
in accomplishing this object. 

This instability in the teaching corps is in striking contrast to the 
situation which prevailed among the elementary schools of Prussia 
prior to the outbreak of the war. In these schools, which are re- 
markable for producing the kind of efficiency which Germany de- 
mands, recent studies show that 45 per cent of the male teachers of 
the cities had been in service for more than 20 years and' only 6.69 
per cent had had less than 6 years' service, while 77.6T per cent had 
served more than 10 years.^ Conditions of salary, of tenure, of re- 
tirement provisions are such that teaching in Germany has become 
a prrof ession wherein those who enter do so intending to remain in the 
work for life. The German elementary-school teacher does not re- 
ceive a large salary, but it is sufficient to provide him with a com- 
fortable home, an education for his children, a margin of savings, and 
a pension upon retirement which will keep him from want for the 
rest of his days. If teaching is ever to become a profession in Amer- 
ica, it will be only after some such provisions are made to secure 
greater permanency in our teaching force. 

CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO 8UCCESSFUI- TEACHING. 

Good business practice outside of the teaching profession is 
recognizing this need, for it is learning that success within the field 
of business enterprise is largely dependent upon offering to employees 
inducements such that long tenure and the taking of a vital interest 
in the business will inevitably ensue. If it be true that a happy, 
contented, and care-free employee is requisite for success within the 
domain of business, how much more must a serene mind be essential 
to work of a superior quality in the business of teaching. Good teach- 
ing, perhaps more than good work in any other activity, is dependent 
upon a buoyant, hopeful, joyous mind; for good teaching is a mat- 
ter primarily of the spirit. A state of mind is contagious. Happy 
teachers mean happy children, and unhappiness in a teacher inevi- 
tably begets unhappiness among children. Men and women, as 
well as ch-ldren, can ever do their best work when they are dispirited, 
discouraged, and depressed. True, some teachers are able, however 
adverse the conditions, to live in the realm of the free spirit, but with 
most the response to material conditions is powerful and immediate. 
In the interest of the children, therefore, school officials should give 
much practical consideration to the ways and means of improving 
the material conditions which press in upon the life of their teachers. 

» Alexander : The Prussian Elementary Schools, Macmillan, 1918, p. 197. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGER SALAEIES. 39 

The qualifications required of teachers are constantly rising. There 
was a time when young people who could do nothing else or who 
wished to gain a few dollars to enable them to attend a business col- 
lege or a medical or law school turned to teaching with no intention 
of remaining in the work longer than a year or two at most; but 
those days have gone by never to return. It is now generally rec- 
ognized that qualities of character and intelligence, as well as careful 
training, are essential ; and, more and more, officials who are respon- 
sible to the people for the administration of their schools are raising 
the required standard of qualifications. The teacher should be and in 
most cases is the equal of the men and women who enter other 
branches of professional life; and yet she, all too frequently, receives 
a recompense which is less than the wages of those who are doing 
the most menial and unskilled labor of the community. 

Again, as standards of teacher qualifications are raised an increas- 
ingly larger technical preparation is demanded. The best teachers 
in the grades are well grounded in the chief departments of human 
knowledge; they know what the big things are which are being 
accomplished in the broad fields of the world's work ; they have de- 
veloped well-defined standards of taste and appreciation in music, 
art, and literature, and know the best contributions which these arts 
have produced ; they keep abreast of political thought and discussion 
in their own community, and in the larger community which lies 
beyond; and, moreover, within the field of education, they are stu- 
dents of the general and special method of education and keep in 
touch with the progress of pedagogical investigation and discussion, 
working over continually into schoolroom practice the established 
results of such experiment and observation. Years of preparation 
are required, in the high school, in the college or university, and in 
the professional course, followed up by vacations spent in summer 
schools, by Saturdays and holidays spent at lectures and teachers' 
meetings, by evenings occupied in intensive and detailed preparation 
for the classroom work of the following day. Besides time, effort, 
and strength of body and of purpose, the expenditure of considerable 
money is necessary in securing such preparation. It is no act of 
justice to those who have gone through with such a laborious and 
expensive course of training as is now required that they should, in 
the end, find themselves limited to a salary so small as to seem 
pitiful. 

Furthermore, a teacher should purchase many books, she should 
attend conventions and conferences, and she should travel, ller 
growth can not be maintained unless she reads daily; unless she 
comes in personal contact with people outside her own community 
and who afford a corrective against the provincialism of localities; 
and unless she broadens her horizon through travel. But these 



40 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

things can not be accomplished without money. A teacher should 
be so situated financially that she can spend a fifth of her salary, at 
least, in such effort at self-improvement and in the acquisition of 
self -culture. 

In short, a salary should be paid sufficient to enable teachers to 
live in reasonable comfort and still have left a margin adequate to 
permit them to take advantage of the various opportunities for per- 
sonal growth offered by their own and other communities ; and with 
a margin, too, generous enough to make it possible for them to com- 
mand that respect and recognition in the community to which the 
dignity and worth of their profession entitles them. In addition, a 
teacher who has proved her worth in actual practice should be placed 
completely at ease with respect to tenure. Provisions should also 
be made, again with the welfare of the children in mind, for a retire- 
ment fund which will enable an allowance to be made to the one 
who has faithfully served her community during the active and 
virile period of her life span and which will make it easy for her to 
be withdrawn from the classroom when her usefulness has ended. 

COLUMBIA'S EXPENDITUBES FOE TEACHERS' SAXABIES. 

Columbia, then, it must be pointed out, has still far to go in im- 
proving the material conditions of her teachers in respect to salaries 
and to retirement allowances before she can command the uninter- 
rupted services of teachers of the highest training and ability; be- 
fore she can expect to hold them up to the highest standards of 
teaching skill; and before she can properly insist upon evidence of 
a greater progress in self-culture than is now to be observed in the 
rank and file of the school corps. Indeed, in both salary schedule 
and in provision for a retirement allowance others cities and other 
sections of this country have far outstripped Columbia, as the facts 
seen in comparison will disclose. 

To illustrate: During the academic year 1915-16 Columbia ex- 
pended a total of $70,419 in salaries of principals, supervisors, and 
teachers (superintendent's salary not included). As there were 
4,029 pupils in average daily attendance for the year, this expendi- 
ture amounted to $17.48 per child. During the same period the 
average per pupil, reckoned on precisely the same basis, for the 165 
cities listed by the Commissioner of Education as being in Colum- 
bia's population group, was $30.82. Of the 165 cities, 117 expended 
from $25 to $65 per pupil in average daily attendance; 40 expended 
from $18 to $25; while 8 only fall into the last group — that is. the 
group expending less than $18 per child. These eight cities follow: 
Columbia, $17.48; Savannah, Ga., $16.96; Portsmouth, Va., $16.84; 
Montgomery, Ala., $16.69; Shreveport, La., $16.31; Joplin, Mo., 
$15.80; Macon, Ga., $15.51; and Charlotte, N. C, $15.39. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGER SALARIES. 41 

Summarizing, we find that 138 out of the 165 cities of Cohimbia's 
class expended on teachers' salaries one and one-half times as much 
as she did ; while 36 out of the 138 expended twice as much or more. 

Whatever may have been true in the past in regard to the pur- 
chasing power of a dollar, it is an established fact that now, as 
among different sections of the country, the dollar is stabilized ; and 
its value, with slight local variations, is the same the country over. 
Only one explanation then can be offered to account for the great 
difference between the salaries paid the teachers of Columbia and 
those paid generally throughout the country, and that is that the 
citizens of Columbia do not yet realize how necessary it is in secur- 
ing results of the first order in the schoolroom to have teachers at 
ease in respect to the financial side of living. 

When the amount which the teacher must invest in her training 
is taken into account, and when the greatly lessened purchasing 
power of a dollar is considered, it is not too much to expect of Co- 
lumbia or of any other American city to pay to elementary grade 
teachers a beginning salary of $600, which shall increase regularly 
to at least $1,280, and a beginning salary in the high school of not 
less than $800, increasing to $1,500 or more. The salary of princi- 
pals, superintendent, janitors, and other members of the school corps 
should be increased in proportion. Surely there can be no justice in 
the pittance which Columbia pays her colored teachers, for the 
most ignorant members of their race can earn in the cotton fields 
considerably more per day than the colored teachers of Columbia 
are receiving. Indeed, inquiry discloses the fact that it is impos- 
sible for these tea^chers to live on the salary which they are now 
receiving from the school department, and that, in order to become 
self-supporting, it is necessary for those without other income to do 
sewing or whatever work comes to hand. 

THE EISE IN THE COST OF LIVING. 

This serious inadequacy is particularly striking when the facts 
regarding the rise in the cost of living are taken into account. 
Studies made by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics show 
that food prices throughout the United States have risen each year 
since 1907, except during 1911 and 1915 ; that food as a whole was 52 
per cent higher in December, 191T, than in December, 1913; and 
that, as compared with 1907, prices had increased 78 per cent. 

In practically all of the industries wages have increased in re- 
sponse to this rise in the cost of living; thus, organized labor is now 
found to be receiving more than in any preceding year. In all 
trades taken collectively, the United States Bureau of Labor Sta- 
tistics points out,^ the increase in hourly wage rates in 1916 over 

» U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics : Bulletin No. 214. 



42 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

1915 was 4 per cent; over 1914, 5 per cent; over 1910, 14 per cent; 
and over 1907, 19 per cent. Although the wage rate has steadily 
increased it has not kept pace with the increase in food prices, conse- 
quently the purchasing power of an hour of labor has correspond- 
ingly declined. These facts are brought out in the following table, 
made up from tables published by the United States Bureau of Labor 
Statistics : ^ 

Food purchasing power of wages diminishing. 



Years. 


Wage rate 
per hour. 


Food 
prices. 


Food 

purchasing 

power of 

wages. 


1907 . . 


100 
101 
102 
105 
107 
109 
111 
114 
115 
119 


100 
103 
108 
113 
112 
119 
122 
125 
124 
139 
178 


100 


1908 


99 


1909 


95 


1910 


93 


1911 


95 


1912 


91 


1913 


91 


1914.. 


91 


1915 


92 


1916 


86 


1917 











This table shows both wage increase and food-cost increase, in 
comparison with what wages and food prices were in 1907. By com- 
paring the increase in wage rate from year to year with the more 
rapid advance in food prices, the facts about the steadily diminish- 
ing value of wages are seen. Thus it appears that from 1907 to 1912 
the value fell off about 9 per cent ; that the advance of wages during 
1912, 1913, and 1914 kept even pace with the advance in prices; but 
that since 1914 there has again been a rapid decline, resulting in a net 
loss for the entire period of 14 per cent. If wages increased no more 
rapidly in 1917 than during 1916 (the facts are not jet obtainable), 
then the net loss for the period will have grown to 69 per cent, giving 
a total loss of 31 per cent since 1907. It is clear from this statement 
that the country will be compelled to make radical readjustments of 
wage schedules if workers are to remain self-supporting; it must be 
clear also that in no branch of endeavor is there greater need for 
immediate revision of schedules of compensation than among the 
teachers. Already many parts of the country are reporting inability 
to secure teachers at all, and unless boards of education respond 
promptly to the economic demands of the time we shall see a teacher 
" famine " ; for, with conditions which now obtain, teachers who re- 
ceive no more than do the teachers of Columbia can not possibly re- 
main self-supporting. 

COLUMBIA'S 8ALABY SCHEDULE RECOGNIZES EXPERIENCE, BUT NOT MERIT. 

The salary schedule for Columbia teachers now in force recognizes 
only the factor of length of service in determining compensation. 

1 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics : Bulletin No. 214. 



INSTTPPIOIENT MAIFTENASrCE MEANS MEAGER SALARIES. 43 

That is, a teacher in the grades begins at the minimum of $500 per 
year ; her yearly salary automatically increases until the fourth year, 
when the maximum of $643.50 per year is reached, which then be- 
comes the amount she receives annually for the remainder of her 
employment. This method of fixing salaries is the one, though with 
many differences in detail, which is in operation in most of the cities 
of this country. However, it is generally recognized that such an 
arrangement has serious defects. 

In the first place, everyone knows that some teachers are worth 
very much more to a department than are others, and that this worth 
is not dependent on length of service. In the second place, such a 
plan offers no inducement for special industry or effort for self- 
improvement, for the teacher who does just enough to escape dis- 
missal gets quite as much as the teacher whose heart is in her work. 
And, again, there is a strong tendency among teachers, as among 
all workers on salary, when middle age is reached and the maximum 
salary is attained, to permit the desire for a comfortable, easy-going 
life berth to outweigh the ambition for a steadily increasing personal 
efficiency which entails hard work and many denials of personal 
pleasure. A salary schedule having a maximum which is reached 
early in the service and beyond which no individual can advance 
operates powerfully to inhibit growth. 

However, with an adequate salary, with high standards of pro- 
fessional qualifications for entering teachers, and with good super- 
vision, the experience of many systems shows that even under such a 
salary plan a large part of the teaching corps in a given department 
can be developed into good teachers and maintained as such for a 
number of years. But whether or not any considerable percentage 
of such a group come to be properly called excellent teachers will 
depend in large measure upon the special inducements which the 
system offers through the medium of its administrative methods and 
its salary schedule. It ought, therefore, to be possible to devise a 
plan which will permit of an increase in salary, beyond a maximum 
representing a living wage common to all, for those teachers who 
show evidence of increasing scholarship and of professional prepa- 
ration and whose demonstrated efficiency and general worth are high. 

PLANS FOE KECOGNIZINQ MEBIT. 

The success of any plan based on the personal efficiency of the 
teacher must of necessity turn upon the method employed for deter- 
mining the degree of that efficiency. Just here lies the difficulty, for 
the responsibility of passing judgment upon the teachers of a depart- 
ment must rest upon the superintendent and his staff of supervisors. 
The teacher who is graded low compares herself with some other 
teacher in the department more fortunate and then concludes that 



44 THE PITBLIC schools of COLUMBIA., SOUTH CAROLINA. 

she has been unfairly and unjustly marked. In some places the dis- 
sension in the corps, in consequence of alleged unfairness in evalu- 
ating the efficiency of the teachers, has been so great as to outweigh 
the benefits. Indeed, it is doubtless the fear of engendering such dis- 
cord that has deterred many school authorities in adopting a plan 
to recognize individual merit in terms of the salary schedule. 

To avoid, as far as possible, this danger of unfairness and to pro- 
vide a check against error of judgment, most plans of this type use 
a form for scoring efficiency besides requiring that each teacher 
shall be graded by more than one person. In Decatur, 111., for 
example, the grade of each teacher is a composite made up by the 
superintendent from the markings of three pei*sons who consider the 
following factors: 



1. Physical aspect of school.. 

2. Teacher's personality. 

3. Adaptability. 

4. Loyalty to school policies. 

5. Spirit of cooperation. 



6. Attitude toward pupil. 

7. Discipline and control. 

8. Professional interests. 

9. Teaching skill. 

10. General impression. 



The Savannah, Ga., plan is as follows: 

1. A probationary period of one year, with indefinite tenure there- 
after. 

2. A beginning salary of $495, increasing automatically $45 per 
year for five years. 

3. At the end of the five-year period the teacher may remain 
indefinitely at the attained salary level or she may apply for promo- 
tion to the next salary group. (This application may be made at 
the end of the fourth year of service, if desired.) 

4. The applicant for promotion is rated by three persons three 
times during the year following the announcement of her candidacy. 
This rating is based on the following efficiency factors: {a) Scholar- 
ship; (&) methods of teaching; [c) management of pupils; {d) 
attention to the details of school business; (e) personality; (/) pro- 
fessional interest and growth; {g) spirit of loyalty and cooperation; 
{h) interest in and sympathy with children. 

In addition, she is expected to pursue during the year some aca- 
demic study relating somewhat generally to the subject matter of 
her teaching ; also to read two modern educational books from an ap- 
proved list and defend before a group of examiners a paper which 
she prepares on some theme suggested by her reading. 

5. If successful, she passes into the second salary division, which 
begins with $720 and increases automatically $45 each year for a 
period of three years. This brings her to $855, where she can again 
rest, or, in turn, become a candidate, as before, for entrance to the 
third salary group, which likewise increases automatically $45 per 
year, this time for two years. 



INSUFFIOIEN-T MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGER SALARIES. 



45 



6. This last step, which can be reached in a minimum of 11 years 
from the beginning, marks the final maximum which is possible for 
her to receive under the provisions of the plan. Here she remains — 
that is, at $945 — for the remainder of her teaching period. 

The steps in this plan are shown in the following diagram : 









$945 




2 years 






$855 






3 years 






$720 








5 years 




$495 









As a department should be able to attract able teachers from the 
outside who would be unwilling to enter at the beginner's rate, pro- 
vision is made for extending certain credit to such. A normal grad- 
uate of an accepted school, for instance, can be started with three 
years' credit, and a graduate of a class "A" college may be given 
four years' credit in terms of the salary schedule. 

The teachers of colored schools are eligible to the same promo- 
tions; but, in recognition of an assumed difference in cost of living 
and in the expense of training, as compared with the white teachers, 
their salary has been set at all points at 75 per cent of that of the 
white teachers. It is pertinent to ask, in this connection, however, 
whether the living cost of negro teachers is actually less, or, if less, 
should it be less than that of white teachers? The same question 
should likewise be raised respecting the cost of the training required 
of negro teachers. Again, if the facts should show that there is 
no appreciable difference in either the cost of living or the cost of 
training as between white and negro teachers, should not both groups 
work under the same salary schedule? 

A PLAN SUGGESTED FOB COLUMBIA. 

The following plan, based upon that suggested by Cubberley,^ is 
recommended as a possibility for Columbia : 

Tentative salary schedule for the elementary teachers of Columbia. 



Teachers. 


Term of appoint- 
ment. 


Begin- 
ning 
salaiy. 


Yearly 

salary 

increase. 


Years to 
reach the 
group 
maxi- 
mum. 


Maxi- 
mum 
salary 
for the 
group. 


One-year teachers (probationary) 


1 TTOur 


$600 

750 

900 

1,100 


$50 
50 
40 
30 


3 
3 
5 
6 


$750 










1,100 
1 280 


Permanent teachers 


Until retired 







• Cubberley : Public School Administration, p. 261. 



46 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

When the maximum of each group is reached, the following alter- 
native courses should be open to the board of education : 

1. Termination of the contract (permissible each year in group 
No. 1). 

2. Keappointment annually at the group maximum. 

3. Promotion to the next higher group. 

The promotion from group to group beyond that of the three- 
year teachers should be granted only to those who have shown spe- 
cial merit and have given evidence of valuable professional study. 
To satisfy the latter condition the board might require the candi- 
date for promotion to spend a year in study at some recognized col- 
lege or university, or a year in teaching in some good school system 
in another part of the country, or perhaps a year in study and travel 
combined. In this connection a system of exchanging teachers 
might easily be established between Columbia and other cities to 
their mutual advantage. 

A schedule similar to this could easily be arranged for the teachers 
of the high school, and for the teachers of the colored schools as well. 

SUMMABY. 

1. Columbia women teachers are in the same wage class with the 
drivers of the city garbage wagons, street laborers, and motormen 
and conductors who have served less than a year. City stenog- 
raphers get 50 cents a day more than the best-paid high-school 
women and 82 cents per day more than the best-paid grade teachers. 

2. The teachers of Columbia, after paying for board, room, laun- 
dry, and car fare for the nine months of the school term have from 
$185 to $427.50 only, out of which they must provide their yearly 
allowance of clothing and their expenses for the three summer 
months. 

3. The conditions are such that teachers remain but three years in 
public-school service. 

4. The standards of teacher qualifications are constantly rising, 
requiring a larger technical preparation and a more expensive 
training. 

5. Of the 165 cities in the United States in Columbia's popula- 
tion class, Columbia stands No. 8 from the bottom in the amount ex- 
pended for teacher's salaries per capita of pupils in average daily 
attendance. 

6. The salary schedule should recognize merit as well as length of 
service. 

2. NO PROVISION FOR A TEACHERS' RETIREMENT FUND. 

The problem of securing proper provision for the teachers' com- 
fort will never be adequately met until a retirement fund, prefer- 
ably State wide in its scope, is obtained. While members of many 



IFSUFFIOIENT MAINTENAN-CE MEANS MEAGER SALARIES. 47 

professions may well continue their work until they have reached a 
"ripe old age," the average teacher in the grades or in the high 
school should give way much earlier. It is pathetic to see old people 
retained in the classroom long after they have earned the right to 
retire, because they have no resources and no other means of securing 
a livelihood and because of gratitude for what they may have done 
through the unselfish pouring out of their lives in the years gone by. 
Voung children demand of teachers flexibility, adaptability, fresh- 
ness, vivacity, vigor, good humor, and ability to give and take. 

Only the person whose interests have been many-sided ; whose sym- 
pathies have been sincere ; and whose roots have run down into deep 
soil retain the qualities of adaptability and versatility beyond the 
years of middle life. Indeed, the shallow person whose life is lived 
wholly on the surface of things very early begins, like the grain of 
wheat which fell on stony ground, to wither away in spirit as in 
body. With such a one, surely, by the time middle age is reached it 
ought to be made easy for her to withdraw from actual contact with 
children in the classroom. It is not easy at this time of life for her 
to turn to a new occupation; indeed, in most fields of activity the 
doors of opportunity are closed to one of such age who is without ex- 
perience, except that gained in teaching. The future which such a 
one faces is not bright. Gut of the meager salaries paid, and with 
the demands steadily becoming more insistent, it is impossible for the 
teacher to set aside enough, year by year, to keep her in comfort for 
long after her earning period has passed. The result is that teachers 
are retained in the schoolroom by sympathetic school officials long 
after they should have withdrawn, and then, finally, when their work 
becomes so inefficient that it can no longer be overlooked, they 
drop out all too frequently, in the end dependents. This is not just 
to the faithful teacher who has given the best years of her life to the 
training of the children of the community ; nor is it just to the children 
themselves, who are entitled at all times to the best instruction and 
training by the best and most vigorous teachers it is possible to ob- 
tain. There is no parent in Columbia who should rest content until 
the proper authorities have not only put the salaries of the school 
corps on a reasonable basis, but have made it possible through the 
establishment of a retirement fund for every man and woman who 
has dedicated his life to the service of the children of Columbia to 
spend the years of declining age in peace and comfort and with 
honor. 

THE PEOGEESS OF THE MOVEMENT. 

The movement to secure retirement legislation is a recent one in 
the United States, but it has grown rapidly in the last five or six 
years. In 1916 plans for pension or retirement allowances for 
teachers were in effect in 33 States, Of these, 21 were State wide in 



48 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

their application, 5 fipplied to two or more cities in the State, and 7 
affected a single city or county. In general, these systems fall into 
two groups : The " straight pension " type, in which the State, or the 
administrative unit, supplies the whole of the fund ; and the " con- 
tributory " type, in which the fund is derived, in whole or in part, 
from dues or assessments paid at regular intervals by the bene- 
ficiaries themselves. 

In practice the tendency, more and more, as the problem is given 
expert study and practical test, is in the direction of developing a 
system which shall be of the partially " contributory " type ; which 
shall be State wide in application; which shall be jointly controlled 
by the public and the participants; and which shall be operated on 
the actuarial reserve basis, the rates of payment into the fund to be 
scientifically determined, so that the amount paid in during the pe- 
riod of service will be sufficient, with the interest which it will earn, 
to cover the benefits to be paid. The most recent, as well as perhaps 
the most comprehensive study which this complicated and difficult 
subject has received, has just come from the press: Principles Gov- 
erning the Retirement of Public Employees, by Lewis Meriam, is- 
sued by the Institute for Government Research, Washington, D. C. 
(1918). 

mebiam's study of this problem. 

The writer holds that the ideal system of the future will provide 
benefits for superannuation ; for permanent disability due to accident 
or to disease; for withdrawal from service, whether by resignation 
or dismissal; for death in active service; and for death after retire- 
ment, if the employee on retirement desires to accept such provision 
ss an optional method of settlement. He suggests that compulsory 
superannuation retirement at a specified age rather than upon 
length of service should be required, though a provision for the 
retention of an employee on account of unusual merit not to exceed 
five years may be desirable, as would be a provision permitting re- 
tirement at not to exceed five years below the compulsory age. As to 
benefits, he regarded it as essential that the precise basis for de- 
termining the amount which shall be paid should be prescribed by 
law and not be left to the discretion of administrative officers. 

Instead of making the superannuation benefit or annuity directly 
proportional to salary he would have it consist of: (1) A certain 
fixed sum payable to all alike; and (2) an amount which would be 
practically equivalent to a definite proportion of the average salary 
received during the last five years or so of service, the two taken 
together making up the total allowance which, in general, should 
not be less than the minimum of subsistence. Disability benefits, on 
the other hand, can not be based, he believes, solely on the purchas- 



INSUFFICIEN-T MAINTENANCE MEANS MEAGEK SALARIES. 



49 



ing power of accumulations to an individual's account, a procedure 
which he recommends in the case of a superannuation benefit, but 
should be provided for on a collective insurance basis accomplished 
by either one of two methods — (1) through having each employee 
insured against disability for a certain specified sum and varying 




the premium according to the cost of the insurance at the employee's 
age of entrance; or (2) having each employee pay for a certain 
amount of disability insurance and letting the purchasing power of 
this premium determine the amount of the insurance which shall be 
paid over in the event of disability. 
76482—18 1 



60 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLHsTA. 

Regarding tKe third class of benefits, that for withdrawals, the 
writer holds that benefits should be considered as part of compensa- 
tion for service rendered, and that the participating employee holds, 
therefore, an equity not only in the contributions which he himself 
makes to the retirement fund but also in whatever the State may 
contribute in his behalf. In consequence, upon withdrawal from 
whatever cause, the beneficiary should be entitled to the whole 
amount except that part already expended in giving him the protec- 
tion he has already had. 

In the event of death in active service, this report suggests, the 
minimum benefit should be the accumulations to the individual's ac- 
count, with compound interest, whether these accumulations have 
resulted from the employee's own contributions or from contribu- 
tions made by the State in his behalf. As to death after retirement, 
the suggestion is that such a contingency should be met by offering 
the following optional modes of settlement, the choice of which is 
to be made at the time of retirement : 

1. An annuity for life, with no payments in the event of death, a 
plan suitable for one without dependents or whose dependents have 
been adequately provided for. 

2. For the one with a wife or husband only to consider, a last sur- 
vivor annuity, payable as long as either shall live. 

3. For a person with dependent children, an annuity payable to 
the individual until death and then to the family until the youngest 
child shall have reached 18 or some other predetermined ago. 

In each case, the amount of the annuity would depend on the 
amount standing to the employee's credit on retirement ; this sum to 
buy. as much annuity as it would purchase under any one of the three 



Perhaps the two plans which most nearly embody the chief feat- 
ures of Meriam's study are the Pennsylvania plan, now in operation, 
and the one proposed for the District of Columbia. The essential 
features of each follow : 

THE PENNSYLVANIA PLAN. 

According to this plan the teachers are eligible to receive the fol- 
lowing benefits: 

1. A superannuation benefit. — This comprises an annual retirement allow- 
ance beginning at the age of 62 and continuing throughout life of one-eightieth 
of the average salary of the last 10 years of service, multiplied by the total 
number of years the teacher has taught. 

2. A disability benefit. — This is an . annual retirement allowance beginning 
upon disability, and continuing throughout the period of disability, applicable 
to any teacher who is disabled after 10 years of service. The amount of the 
allowance is one-ninetieth of the average salary of the last 10 years, multi- 
plied by the total number of years the teacher has taught. The minimum al- 



i]srsuPFiciE]srT maintenance means meager salaries. 



51 



lowance in every case is 30 per cent of the average salary of the last 10 years, 
except that no disability allowance is to exceed eight-ninths of the allowance 
which would have been received had the teacher remained to obtain the sup- 
erannuation benefit. 

3. A death, resignation, or dismissal benefit. — Upon the death, resignation, oi 
dismissal of any teacher the total contribution of the individual, together with 
4 per cent compound interest, is returned to the individual or to his estate. 

The new entrant to the school system will pay for these privileges 
such percentage of his or her salary during active teaching service 
as is computed to be sufficient to provide one-half of the superannua- 
tion benefit. The present teacher will pay such percentage of his or 
her salary during active service as is computed to be sufficient to pro- 
vide one-half of that part of the superannuation benefit which is al- 
lowable because of future service. 

The following tables give the percentage of salary required as a 
contribution from teachers at the time they began to participate. 
This percentage is computed to remain constant throughout the re- 
mainder of the period of service. 

Rates of contribution by teachers. 

[These rates are computed on an actuarial basis and are lower for men than for women because the mor- 
tality among men annuitants is higher than among women annuitants, resulting in a smaller number 
of payments to men and consequently in a reduction in the cost of the allowance.] 



18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 



Percentage of salary 
required of— 



3.71 
3.74 
3.75 

3.78 



Age. 



33. 
34, 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 

40 : 
41 
42, 
43, 
44, 
45, 
46, 
47, 



Percentage of salary 
required of— 



Men. 



3.49 
3.51 
3.55 
3.58 
3.62 
3.65 
3.70 
3.74 
3.79 



4.01 
4.07 
4.14 



4.07 
4.11 
4.16 
4.21 
4.27 
4.32 
4.38 
4.45 
4.52 
4.59 
4.67 
4.75 



Age. 



49. 
50. 
51. 
52. 
53. 
54. 
55. 
56. 
57. 
58. 
59. 
60. 
61. 



Percentage of salary 
required of— 



Men. Women. 



4.20 
4.27 
4.34 
4.41 
4.49 
4.57 
4.64 
4.73 
4.81 
4.90 
4.98 
5.08 
5.16 
5.30 



5.10 

5.20 
5.29 
5.40 
5.50 
5.61 
5.72 
5.83 
5.94 
6.07 
6.18 
6.31 
6.42 



THE PLAN FOE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



The essential provisions of this plan are as follows: 

1. That a sufficient amount shall be deducted each month from the teacher's 
basic salary, not to exceed 8 per cent, to provide, on retirement, a certain 
annuity. 

2. That the deductions are to be invested by the Treasury in bonds for the 
benefit of the teachers, and a board of investment is created consisting of 
Treasury officials and two teachers, none of whom draws additional salary be- 
cause of service on this board. 

3. That at the age of 62 the teacher may be retired at her own option or at 
the option of the board of education. At the age of 70 she shall be retired 



52 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

unless the board for some particular reason thinks her services should be 
retained. 

4. That at the age of 52 the teacher, if disabled mentally or physically, may 
be retired. 

5. That when retired the teacher shall receive each month until her death 
a sum made up of two different accounts, the first being 1 per cent of the 
average basic salary for each year of service, and the second $6 for each year 
of service. To illustrate: A teacher retiring at 62, after 40 years of service, hav- 
ing had an average salary of $1,000 a year, would receive $10 multiplied by 
40. Then she would get $6 for each year of service, which would be 6 times 
40— $240 — or a total salary of $640 a year. Of that amount 63 per cent would 
be contributed by the teacher herself from her own savings, and the remaining 
37 per cent by the Government. 

6. That there shall be a minimum for the ages of 62 and 70 of $480, and for 
the age of 52 of $420. 

7. That credit may be given for service outside the District of Columbia not 
exceeding 10 years, and that the teacher must have been employed continuously 
in the District of Columbia since 52 years of age and for 10 years continuously 
prior to retirement. 

8. That if the teacher leaves the service before the age of 62 or before retire- 
ment, she shall receive her savings, with interest, in one lump sum. 

9. That in the case of death the savings shall go to the family of the decedent. 

10. That the act be applicable to all teachers on the rolls of the District of 
Columbia in June, 1917. 

11. That continuance in the service after the passage of the act is declared 
to be consent to the provisions of the act. 

12. That teachers may be discharged as before. 

13. That an appropriation of $50,000 be set aside for payments up to June 30, 
1919, and $5,000 for the expenses of operating the system. 

14. That the annuity shall be exempt from attachment or execution for debt 
or taxes. 

SUMMAKY. 

1. The movement, providing for retirement funds for teachers is 
growing very rapidly, for it is recognized that the welfare of the 
children fully justifies such provision. 

2. The type which is coming into general favor is on,e having the 
following features: A fund derived in part from the beneficiaries 
and in part from the State; joint control by the State and by the 
participants; operations placed on an actuarial reserve basis, the 
rates of payment into the fund to be scientifically determined ; bene- 
fits provided for superannuation, permanent disability, withdrawal 
from service, death in active service or after retirement, and com- 
pulsory retirement at a specified age. 



IV.— INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS THE 
ACTIVITIES ATTEMPTED. 



1. THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OFFERS NO KINDERGARTEN WORK. 

Though the kindergarten is the youngest member of our eduea- 
tional family, its active growth in this country falling well within 
tlie last half century, yet it has won its way to an established place 
in our school system, as a glance at the record of the growth of the 
movement will show. The first kindergarten in this country to be 
organized in connection with the public-school system, was estab- 
lished in Boston in 1870, but was discontinued after a few years. 
For 20 years the movement grew very slowly, so slowly, in fact, that 
by 1890 it had secured legal recognition in but a half dozen States 
and formal adoption in no more than 5 or 6 of the larger cities 
and in but 25 or 30 of the smaller. Now, however, nearly every 
State in the Union has permissive kindergarten legislation and, as 
shown by the 1915-16 statistics of the United States Bureau of Edu- 
cation, 1,228 cities report a total of 8,463 kindergartens with an 
aggregate enrollment of 434,022 children and employing nearly 
9,000 teachers. 

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE KINDEKGABTEN. 

Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten, conceived the true educa- 
tional process to be one which is rooted and grounded in the child's 
own spontaneous self-activity; for, he held, the impulses which 
cause humanity to aspire to progress are instinctive and will be 
expressed spontaneously in childhood through play if opportunity 
be afforded. He believed, therefore, that the play impulse, so char- 
acteristic of young children, should be looked upon as the chief 
agency in education. So he insisted that children be permitted to 
play with the same freedom that they would exercise if at home, and 
yet, withal, that this play be conducted under the eye of a teacher 
who should be wise enough to organize and interpret these expres- 
sions of the child's instincts and give them significance without in- 
hibiting the exercise of his spontaneity. 

The various play activities of childhood, Froebel held, fall nat- 
urally into two groups : That in which the qualities of a social char- 
acter, such as cooperation, subordinating individual desire to the 
group will, and the ability to give and take, are developed ; and that 
in which the child gains certain necessary sense impressions and 
perceptions. To the first of these belong group games, such as games 

63 



54 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

of skill and dramatic games,inwhicli children impersonate such social 
workers as the farmer, the carpenter, and the housewife. Activities 
belonging to this group require no material equipment. To the 
second belong the activities centering about the playthings or 
" gifts " which he proposed to place in the child's hands at successive 
intervals and the various manual " occupations " which were de- 
signed by him to keep pace with the child's growth and interest. 
By means of the " gifts," arranged in series, and the activities asso- 
ciated therewith, the child is to be made conscious of the simple but 
fundamental ideas of color, of form, of number, of dimension, of 
weight, of sound, and of direction and position. Through the " occu- 
pations " which he outlined opportunity is provided, he holds, for 
an exercise of the powers of perceiving, observing, thinking; and 
for the gaining of certain artistic appreciations through construct- 
ing things having harmonious and pleasant forms. 

The kindergarten practice in this country has received an ex- 
tremely searching examination and appraisal, for it has been forced 
to square its principles and methods by criteria which have come 
into our present-day thought as a result of investigations in the fields 
of physiological psychology and of child-study and through the 
contributions made to the discussion by the Herbartians. These cri- 
teria have profoundly modified kindergarten theory and practice as 
set forth by Froebel and interpreted by his followers, but the Froe- 
belian conceptions that education is a process of development rather 
than one of instruction; that play is the natural means of develop- 
ment during the first years; that the child's creative activity must 
be the chief factor in his education; and that his present interests 
and needs rather than the demands of the future should determine 
the material and method of instruction are all conceptions which 
are sanctioned by the conclusions reached in the fields of modern 
educational investigation and research. In consequence of this crit- 
ical examination kindergarten practice has been profoundly modi- 
fied, but the fundamental things for which Froebel stood, and upon 
which kindergarten activities are based, are more generally endorsed 
than ever before, and it can confidently be said that the kinder- 
garten is now so thoroughly established in public confidence and so 
strongly grounded in accepted theory that its place in our school 
syctem will never agin be seriously endangered. 

THE INFLUENCE OF THE KINDEBGABTEN ON PRIMARY EDUCATION. 

In turn, the kindergarten idea is having a reciprocal influence of 
far-reaching character on the aims and methods of elementary edu- 
cation, especially of the primary grades. Beautifying the schoolroom 
with pictures and plants; the introduction of movable desks and 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 55 

chairs in the lower grades ; the substitution of songs and games and 
dramatic plays for the formal drills and the rigid, repressive disci- 
pline; the appeal to the child's fancy through story-telling; the 
sympathetic attention to the child's physical needs; the use of out- 
of-door excursions and work with garden plats; the employment of 
many forms of handwork in the schoolroom ; and the growing prac- 
tice of having the long vacation come during the inclement winter 
months instead of during the summer, an arrangement especially 
suited to little children; are some of the results of the recognition 
in the grades of the validity of the principle underlying kinder- 
garten activities, that education comes by way of the child's own 
self-activity. 

EBTECT or KINDERGARTEN TRAINING ON PROMOTION. 

While the kindergarten is primarily concerned with the content of 
education and its spirit and with the fullness of the life of the child, 
matters which do not lend themselves to statistical evaluation, never- 
theless studies have been made which tend to show that the child 
who has had kindergarten training is likely to make more rapid 
progress through the grades than those who have had no such train- 
ing. A study made in Kenosha, Wis.,^ for example, based on the 
records of 925 children who had had kindergarten instruction and 738 
children who had entered school without such training, while not 
conclusive, suggests that the first group had fewer who were retarded 
in their later school work. Supt. Harvey, of Pawtucket, E. I., found 
in his schools that 60 per cent of the children entering school under 
the age of 5 years and 3 months, without kindergarten training, 
failed of promotion against 35 per cent of those who had*had kinder- 
garten training. Of those entering whose ages fell between 5 years 
3 months and 6 years, 39 per cent failed who had had no kinder- 
garten training against 16 per cent of those who had been through the 
kindergarten. And of the children 6 years and over, the failures in 
the two groups stood at 21 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. 

A more recent study of the effect of the kindergarten in lessening 
the number of reperters is that by a committee appointed in 1915 
of the superintendents and school boards branch of the Michigan 
State Teachers' Association, reported by Berry. The report shows 
that this question of the influence of the kindergarten was studied in 
the records of one group of schools in the Lower Peninsula region 
of Michigan which consisted of 94 towns and cities, 19 of which were 
without the kindergarten and 75 having this form of organization. 

1 Bradford, Mary D. : The Kindergarten and its Relation to Retardation. Nat. Educ. 
Assoc, 1912, pp. 624-29. 



56 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The facts regarding repetition, as disclosed by this report/ follow 
Influence of the kindergarten on repetition in Michigan. 





Number 
of cities 

and 
towns. 


Percentage of repeaters in 
all grades. 


Percentage of repeaters in 
the first grade only. 




Boys. 


Girls. 


Both. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Both. 




19 

75 


13.8 
11.0 


10.2 

7.8 


10.2 

7.8 


27.4 
15.2 


15.6 
10.4 


27.7 


With kindergarten 


12.8 







That is, in the 19 towns without a kindergarten the percentage 
of repeaters, all grades considered, is 28.7 per cent greater than in 
the 75 towns having kindergartens; while in the first grade taken 
by itself the table shows that the percentage of repeaters in the 
towns having no kindergartens exceeds the towns having the kinder- 
garten by 69.5 per cent. 

The foregoing studies are significant, for they indicate that the 
kindergarten is an important factor in reducing repetition in suc- 
ceeding grades and especially in the first grades. It exercises this 
influence, doubtless, both directly and indirectly; directly in the 
sense that such training tends to fit a child for quickly "finding 
himself " in the usual work of the school ; and then indirectly by 
keeping children out of the first grade until they are more mature. 
Considerable pressure is brought to bear upon school officials in many 
places where no kindergarten has been established to admit chil- 
dren to the first grade before they have reached the age of 6. A 
percentage of repetition, therefore, in the first grade in such schools 
is due to the immaturity of such children. A study of this 
factor in causing repetition has never been made, it is believed. 
However, in the Michigan study, just referred to, it was found, for 
example, that in the 19 towns having no kindergarten 33 per cent 
of the enrollment of the first grade were not older than 5 years 
when they entered school, whereas among the 75 cities having the 
kindergarten this percentage was reduced to 7.8 per cent. 

Another study of significance, but along a different line, was made 
by the superintendent of the Boston schools in 1913.' He asked 49 
kindergarten teachers to do advanced kindergarten work with the 
children of 60 classes in the primary grades for two afternoons a week, 
continuing for a year. Great freedom was permitted in the choice of 
activities and in the arrangement of the program. Advanced " gifts " 
and handwork were used in most of the classes, the former for free 
construction and for number work, the latter for hand training and 

I Berry, C. S: A Study of Retardation, Acceleration, Elimination, and Repetition in the Public Elemen- 
tary Schools of Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Towns and Cities of Michigan. 

2 Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1914, p. 349. 



INSUFPICiEN'T MAlJrTElTAiirGE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 5t 

for free expression of experiences. Games were played, stories were 
told, and many excursions were taken to the woods, parks, farms, and 
beaches, providing rich materials for conversation and for expres- 
sion through handwork. At the close of the year 60 primary- 
grade teachers, who were the regular teachers of the classes, were 
asked for reports and frank comments on the experiment. All but 
one reported favorably, while many spoke of the results in terms of 
enthusiasm. 

THE SITUATION IN COLUMBIA. 

In Columbia there is a considerable sentiment favorable to the 
kindergarten, as witnessed by the fact that several private kinder- 
gartens have been established in the city, and one free Idndergarten 
supported by the Sunshine Society of the King's Daughtei^ and 
holding its sessions in a spare room of the Blossom Street public 
school. As with most philanthropic enterprises which depend upon 
voluntary contributions, support of this kindergarten is intermittent, 
spasmodic, and inadequate. At the time this room was visited the 
teacher had not been paid her salary, a modest sum at best, for sev- 
eral months. Besides carrying on her regular work with 35 chil- 
dren without assistance, she was supplying hot luncheons for them 
as well. Despite the meagerness of her equipment, which had been 
donated by various individuals, good work was being done. With the 
vacant rooms now to be found at several of the schools, it would be 
a simple and relatively easy matter to take over this work already 
begun and extend it by establishing the kindergarten at other desir- 
able centers. In the doing of this, practical questions concerning 
organization and administration will arise. To meet requests for in- 
formation as to current practice among the kindergartens of the 
country the United States Bureau of Education has issued a sum- 
mary which can be obtained without charge upon request.^ 

SUMMARY. 

1. The kindergarten has secured an established place in the 
American public school system. 

2. It is based on the belief that the true educational process is one 
founded on the child's spontaneous self-activity. This conception, 
advanced by Froebel, has been supported and reenforced by modern 
educational theory. 

3. The kindergarten training helps a child to make an adjustment 
to school conditions, keeps children out of the primary grades until 
they are more mature, and lessens the number of repeaters in the 
primary grades. 

4. There is already considerable sentiment in Columbia favorable 
to the kindergarten, in response to which a private class has been 

1 United States Bureau of Education, Kindergarten Education Circular, 1917, No. 2. 



58 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 

organized in the Blossom Street school. This should be taken over 
by the school department and similar classes organized in other 
schools. 

2. ONLY A BEGINNING MADE IN PROVIDING OPPORTUl'aTY FOR THE 
EXCEPTIONAL CHILD. 

The contrast between the " old " and the " new " education, with 
their resultant types of schools, is not more marked in any particular 
than in the treatment accorded the defective and exceptional child. 
Formerly all children — normal, abnormal, subnormal, physically de- 
fective — were dumped together into the same hopper and ground 
through the educational mill just as though they possessed identical 
needs and equal abilities. Indeed, the requirements and procedure 
of these schools were formulated consciously for the " average " 
child. Newer education, however, recognizes that there is no such 
thing as the " average " child, and that, in point of fact, each child is 
an individual who differs from every other in capacity, in energy, 
in enthusiasm, in needs, in physical char?^cteristics, in personal initia- 
tive, and, indeed, in every quality which enters into that complex 
organism which we call the child. 

HOW THE NEEDS OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN ABE MET. 

The recognition of this fact has resulted in the devising of a 
number of plans which have made the school of very much more 
worth to the individual. These plans fall into two groups — one in 
which it is not required that the exceptional children of a given class 
be separated from their fellows; and the other, one which is based 
on the idea of segregation. 

Permitting different groups to progress at different rates through 
the same course of study is an example of the first group of prac- 
tices to secure greater flexibility. So also is the plan of modifying 
the course of study in the interest of different groups of individuals, 
whereby pupils are exempted from taking such subjects as technical 
grammar, advanced arithmetic, high-school mathematics, in order 
that special talent in music or in art may be developed. Again, cer- 
tain schools, without segregating pupils, permit some who have dif- 
ficulty with those studies requiring considerable abstract thinking to 
take subjects in which work with shop tools or with household 
equipment predominates. The plan of individual instruction is still 
another method which is designed to meet the needs of the individual 
without obliging him to be separated from his group. 

On the other hand, there are a number of children in every system 
who diverge so far from the normal that for their own welfare and 
for the welfare of those with whom otherwise they would be asso- 



INSUPFICIEIfT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 



59 



ciated segregation into special groups or classes has been found to be 
necessary. Special classes for the deaf, the blind, the feeble-minded, 
the educable epileptics, the tubercular, the non-English-speaking for- 
eigners, the markedly over-fige, the refractory and troublesome, the 
specially gifted, as well as for those who are unable for any reason 
to attend the day school session, are examples of plans based on the 
idea of segregation which have been adopted by various school sys- 
tems in the effort to minister to the needs of all. 



THE PEOBLEM IN COLUMBIA. 



In but two ways has Columbia been able to make a start toward in- 
troducing modifications of school organization and of school pro- 
cedure in the interest of the individual child of exceptional needs, 
namely, through the vacation school and through the evening schools 
which have been organized at two points for mill school children of 
elementary grade. So far as other exceptional children are con- 
cerned, if they enter school at all, they either make their adjustment 
along with the others or else they drop out of school altogether. 
There are to be found in the system, however, a number who are per- 
sisting in their attendance upon the grades and yet who, because of 
physical or mental handicaps, are getting very little from the schools, 
while greatly hindering the progress of others in their classes. The 
following table shows the number in the Columbia schools who, in 
the estimate of the teaching corps, should be placed in separate 
classes for special instruction. 



Exceptional children distributed according 


to schools. 








1 


■d 


1 

i 


1 

a 


2 

a 


1 

1 


1 


1 


1 

% 
I 


O 


i 


WaiTE. 

Taylor School 










1 


4 
6 
6 
1 
2 
9 

1 





1 

6 




2 


1 

3 

4 
2 


1 
1 


1 



1 
1 

















2 
3 

7 

1 

4 


1 




3 

7 



6 




1 

25 


2 

4 


10 




18 


Logan 


55 




13 




4 


Blossom Street 


16 




1 




17 






Total 


1 


29 


11 


11 


12 


3 


1 


18 


16 


32 


134 






NEGEO. 


1 




19 
2 




i 


10 
2 


1 

1 










15 
4 






58 




11 






Total 


1 


21 




10 


12 


2 








19 





69 






Grand total 


2 


50 


15 


21 


24 


5 


' 


18 


35 


32 


203 







THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Exceptional children distributed according to grades. 



Children. 


Grades in white schools. 


Grades in negro schools. 


Grand 


lto4. 


5 to 7. 


High. 


Total. 


lto4. 


5 to 7. 


High. 


Total. 


total. 


Epileptic children . 




27 
7 
8 

10 
2 
1 

17 
3 

27 




1 
3 
1 

1 
1 


7 
1 


1 
1 
1 
2 
1 


1 
6 
4 


1 
29 
11 
11 
12 
3 
1 

18 
16 
32 



20 
4 

8 
6 
2 


7 



1 
1 

2 
1 



2 






s 

5 




10 


1 
21 
4 
10 
12 
2 


9 
10 


2 


Feeble-m inded 


50 




15 


Blind, or nearly so 


21 


StaiTiTTierfirs 


24 




5 


Non-English speaking 

Refractory 


18 


Specially gifted 


25 


cHhers5. .^. . : ;:;::::;::::: 


42 






Total ... . 


102 


15 


17 


134 


47 


7 


15 


69 


203 







A PLAN SUGGESTED. 

Obviously in each of the foregoing divisions of exceptional children 
there are too few to justify the expense of establishing special 
classes for each, but by providing three classes for the white children, 
one for the feeble-minded, one for the blind, and a third for the deaf, 
the regular classes will be greatly relieved, and much can be done 
for those unfortunates by placing them in small divisions to them- 
selves in the charge of teachers who are specially trained for their 
work. 

There is another division of pupils, however, who are perfectly 
normal, but who deviate from established standards because of ill- 
ness, of absence, of temperamental traits, of transfer from other 
school systems, or for other reasons, but who, with more individual 
attention than the regular teacher can give, could easily be brought 
into conformity to the scholastic requirements of their own or of 
another and more advanced class. For such as these the device of 
the ungraded class, or of the " restoration " or " opportunity " class, 
as it is called in places, has been found to be of much value. To be 
successful the ungraded class must be small, not larger than 20 or so ; 
must be in the charge of a teacher of exceptional strength ; and must 
be conducted on the basis of individual rather than of class recitation. 
To this class, usually one in each of the larger schools, are assigned 
those who need special help. After the purpose has been accom- 
plished for which the pupil was assigned, he is restored to his own 
group or to an advanced class, if he has been working with promo- 
tion in view, and his place given to another. Such a class, organized 
in each of the larger schools of Columbia, would take care of the 
" specially gifted," the " stammerers," and the unclassified excep- 
tional children among the whites listed in the foregoing distribution. 

As for the negroes, provision should be made in a similar way for 
the education of the defectives and for other types who deviate from 
the normal. However, there is as yet so much to be done in the way 



INSUFFICIENT MAIFTEN'ANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 61 

of providing opportunity for the normal children of the colored race 
that but little attention can be given to the defectives, however much 
it is needed. Clearly, the State in its effort to secure good citizens 
must provide the means by which individuals may secure the needed 
training. Furthermore, when the State requires attendance upon 
school of all children of specified ages, it is peculiarlj^ the responsi- 
bility of the State to provide the means whereby all children, ab- 
normal as well as normal, may secure an education. To demand 
school attendance without providing the opportunity for malring 
such attendance profitable is quite as unreasonable and unprofitable 
for the negroes as for the whites. 

In addition to continuing and extending the work of the vacation 
and of the evening schools, the survey committee would recommend 
that, for the exceptional children of the department, three classes 
for the defectives of the white schools be established and that the 
department provide transportation for all who can not afford the 
car fare needed to reach these classes. Furthermore, it recommends 
that one restoration class be established in each of the larger schools 
for the benefit of those whose adjustment to the work is not satis- 
factory. It suggests, further, in connection with the vacation school 
already instituted, that the movement now on in many parts of the 
country whereby the vacation school is expanded into one unit of an 
all-the-year school be investis^ated. 

THE ALL-YEAB SCHOOL. 

Columbia holds a vacation school during the summer for both 
high school and elementary school pupils, attended for the most part 
by those who have failed in some part of their work during the 
year and who are trying to make it up. The school is in session for 
eight weeks and for three hours daily. By extending the period to 
12 weeks with a full daily session and making it an integral part of 
the school organization, many advantages will accrue. The school 
plant will be used to its maximum ; pupils who now require 11 years 
to complete the entire course will be enabled to cover it in 9 years 
if they choose to attend continuously ; pupils who do not wish to 
attend continuously can have a choice as to when to take their long 
vacation; it provides profitable employment for many pupils who 
otherwise would be running the streets during the summer; and it 
affords another method for introducing flexibility into our school 
organization in the interest of the needs of individual pupils, for it 
enables a child to proceed through the school course at any one of 
several rates of speed. 

At Eveleth, Minn., when this plan was adopted, the year was 
divided into four terms, each consisting of three school months of 
four weeks each. The contracts with teachers were changed to call 



62 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEQLINA. 

for a teaching period of three terms each year, though in instances 
teachers were permitted to teach for the four terms at a propor- 
tionate increase in salary. Children were required to attend at 
least three terms each year, though, upon securing permission, many 
were allowed to attend for the full time. 

Deffenbaugh's study ^ of what is being done in this direction 
shows that cities where this plan has been tried report that it is re- 
ceived by children, parents, and teachers with much favor. It is 
proving also that, instead of adding to the expense of a department, 
it works an economy, as facts which are adduced show. The courses 
of study, too, are easily reorganized to suit this form of organiza- 
tion. Furthermore, there is abundant evidence to show that, con- 
trary to popular belief, the attendance upon school for 48 weeks in 
the year is not injurious to a child's health. Indeed, as Deffenbaugh 
points out, reports on this point from physicians and nurses go to 
show that children who are out of school during July and August 
come back in September in poorer physical condition than those who 
have attended school. One physician, quoted by Deffenbaugh, prob- 
ably states the situation accurately, when he says : 

If the children could go to the country and live a normal life with plenty of 
exercise I would favor this to keeping them in school, but since conditions are 
such that none of the children who are in the tenement districts can go to 
the country, the best place for them for four or five hours a day is in the 
schoolroom, on the school playgrounds, and in the school shops and gym- 
nasiums. 

SUMMARY. 

1. There are now enrolled in the system 203 children who are ex- 
ceptional in the sense that their needs are such that they should be 
placed in special classes for individual instruction by teachers defi- 
nitely trained for such work. 

2. To meet the need among the white children, three special classes 
should be organized; one for the feeble-minded, one for the blind, 
and one for the deaf. Transportation for those living at a distance 
and who can not afford the car fare required should be provided. 

3. A " restoration " or " opportunity " class should be organized in 
each of the large schools. 

4. The same facilities should be provided for the negro children 
as soon as the housing needs of the children who are normal have 
been met. 

5. The evening schools should be continued and expanded and the 
vacation school should be extended into an all-year school. 



1 Deffenbaugh, W. S. Summer Sessions ©f City Schools. U. S. Bureau of Education, 
Bulletin, 1917, No. 45, pp. 20-29. 



IFSUFPICIElsrT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 



63 



3. NO INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE GIVEN AND NO WORK OFFERED IN 

SCHOOL-SUPERVISED HOME GARDENS. 

AGBICXJLTURE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS. 

Columbia is the center of a large rural area. Its location, at the 
southeastern edge of Richland County, makes it the business center 
of Lexington County and of large sections of several other counties. 
The following table shows the essential facts regarding the extent 
of the farming industry of Richland and Lexington Counties. 



The farming indmtry in Richland and Lexington Counties. 


Farms and value. 


Richland 
County. 


Lexington 
County. 


Number of farms 


2,748 

867 

9 

1,872 

53.1 

47.7 

75.6 

36.0 

$6,427,733 

$2,339 

$21.29 


4,486 

3,133 

5 


Native white farmers 


Foreign-born (white) farmers . 




1,348 
84.7 


PBrp.f>Titng« nf land aroa in fn,rmf!, . , 


Pp.rnnntaTO nf lanrl arpa im proved 


35 1 




100.7 




35.4 




$10,744,463 
$2,395 


Average value per farm 




$15.68 







OWNEESHIP AND TENANCY OF FARMS. 

In Richland County less than one-half of the farm land is im- 
proved, and the production per acre is low. This low production 
is due to the one-crop system and to the large number of tenants who 
operate the farms. Near Columbia the number of farms operated 
under the tenant system is larger than in the more remote counties, 
due to the fact that large numbers of farm owners live in town. Of 
the 2,748 farms in Richland County, 1,826 are operated by tenants, 
1,549 of whom are negroes. In the farming section of the county 
there are two negro farmers to every white farmer. 

A summary of the facts concerning the ownership and tenancy of 
farms in Richland and Lexington Counties follows : 



Otcnership and tenancy of farms. 



Richland 
County. 



Lexington 
County. 



Farms operated by owners 

Percentage 

Native white 

Foreign-bom white 

Negro and other non white 
Farms operated by tenants — 

By share tenants 

By share-cash tenants 

By cash tenants 

Tenure not specified 

Color and nativity of tenants: 

Native white 

Foreign-bom white 

Negro and other non white 
Farms operated by manager. . . 



1,460 
146 

276 

1 

1,549 

21 



2,499 

55.7 

2,268 

5 

226 

1,979 

1,080 

53 

752 

94 





1,121 

8 



64 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLIKA. 

With the large number of farms shown in the forgoing table oper- 
ated by tenants, it is hardly to be expected that the best agricultural 
methods will be followed. Cotton and corn are the principal crops, 
and on the tenant farms the same crops are often replanted on the 
same land year after year without respect to the reduction in the 
fertility of the soil. When the soil gets too poor, the tenant can 
move. 

VOCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES OF AGEICULTUBAL TEACHING. 

The growth and wealth of the city and county are interdependent. 
To promote growth and increase wealth, an improvement in agricul- 
tural knowledge is necessary. Even in the city agricultural instruc- 
tion is needed. Many of the city men now own farms that their sons 
will be required to operate or of which they must direct the operation. 
To the large number of boys leaving school, agriculture offers the 
most promising field of vocational employment. To be able to in- 
crease the agricultural wealth of this section, these boys must, 
however, receive practical agricultural training. The keynote to 
agricultural instruction centers in the high school. At the present 
time the Columbia high school does not offer any courses in agri- 
culture. The only related subjects now taught are physics, chemistry, 
and biology, which are elected by only a few students and are taught 
in an academic way. 

The vocational possibilities of agriculture are so great in the region 
about Columbia that strong courses in agriculture should be organ- 
ized at once. The organization of successful school-directed home 
gardening in the grades should depend for its direction and super- 
vision on the high-school agricultural department. 

WHAT THE COURSE IN AGKICULTURE SHOULD BE. 

1. Agriculture as a vocational subject should be given a prominent 
place in the high-school course of study. The subject should form 
the center of a course rather than be an elective in many coui"ses. 

2. The agricultural instructor should be employed for 12 months 
each year. 

3. The full time of the agricultural instructor should be given to 
his subject, and he should not be burdened with other duties or 
routine. 

4. The course should be so arranged that by combining the students 
graduating in odd years in a single class and the even-year pupils 
in another class, one instructor can direct the project work and 
study of each of his pupils during a full half of the school time 
through a four-year course. The following are recommended: 
Kitchen garden, first year; small animals, second year; farm animals 
and farm crops, third year ; and fruit growing and market gardening 
fourth year — moving from the simpler to the more complex forms, a 
logical method of approach to the subject. 



IFSUFFICIEN-T MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 65 

5. All high-grade students taking agricultural courses should be 
required to conduct home projects, and credits should be withheld 
until the projects have been completed and approved by the high- 
school instructor. 

6. It is recommended that in the Columbia high-school agricultural 
department the students give half time to the study of agriculture 
vocationally and half to the study of cultural subjects. The division 
of time recommended in the Massachusetts Board of Education Bul- 
letin 1916, No. 23, has proved very satisfactory in many parts of the 
country. 

SCHOOL-DIEECTED HOME GAEDENING IN THE UPPEE GBADES OF THE ELEMENTABT 
SCHOOL. 

Of 852 boys reporting from the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh 
grades of the white grammar schools, 566 or 66 per cent had no money- 
earning employment after school hours or on Saturday. During the 
vacation last summer, 546, or 64 per cent of all white boys reporting, 
were not employed outside the home in money-earning occupations. 
For work after school hours and on Saturday the average earnings 
of the children were $2,70 per week. The average earnings for the 
last summer vacation were $4.34 per week. Of the 852 boys, 601 state 
that they have some home duties, but in most cases these duties 
are irregular and of small economic value to the home. The average 
number of hours per week that the boys are employed in home work 
is only five. Two hundred and twenty-six boys receive some pay for 
their home work. 

Of the 873 grammar-school girls, 841, or 96 per cent, report that 
they have no money-earning work outside the home during the out- 
of-school hours, and 848 of them, or 97 per cent, were not employed 
during the last summer vacation. Of the small number who were 
employed, the average earnings were, after school and Saturday, 
$1.85 per week and $3.59 per week during vacation. Of these girls, 
519 claim some duties in the home, but the average number of hours 
worked per week is only four. 

The following table shows the important facts regarding the 
occupations and employment of children of the white elementary 
schools belonging to the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. 

WorTc of white children of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. 



Boys. 



After school and on Saturdays. 

Number reporting 

Number employed 

Nimiber not employed , 

Percentage not employed 

Average earnings per week of those employed 

76482—18 5 



566 

66 

$2.70 



873 
32 
811 



66 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

Work of ichite children of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades — Contd. 




Girls. 



Vacation employment. 

Number reporting 

Number employed last summer 

Number not employed 

Per cent not employed 

Average earnings per week of those employed 

Home work. 

Average number of hours per week that children are employed in home duties 
Number who have home duties 



97 
$3.59 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGBO ELEMENTABY SCHOOL PUPILS. 

Of the 225 boys reporting from the two colored grammar schools, 
97 do not have money-earning occupations outside the home after 
school and on Saturday, and 68 were not employed last summer. 
The average earnings of these colored boys were $2.29 per week after 
school and on Saturday and $2.89 during vacation. One hundred and 
seventy of the boys have home duties which occupy their time on an 
average of eight hours per week. Twenty-seven boys receive pay 
for home work. 

Of 514 girls reporting from the four upper grades of the colored 
school, 217 do not have money-earning work outside the home after 
school or on Saturday, and 401 were not employed last summer 
vacation. The girls who were employed earned $1.46 per week for 
work while school was in session and $2.17 per week in vacation. 
Of the girls, 399 have 11 hours of home work per week and 135 
receive some money for this home work. 

The following table shows the important facts regarding the occu- 
pations and employment of children of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and 
seventh grades of the negro schools. 

Work of negro children of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. 



Children. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Number reporting. . . 


After school and on Saturdays. 


225 
125 
97 
43 
82.29 

225 
157 

30 
$2.89 

8 
170 


514 




97 




417 




81 


Average earnings per we 


3k of those employed 


$1.46 




Vacation employment. 


514 


Number employed 


113 


Number not employed . . 


401 


Per cent not employed . . 


78 




$2.17 


Home work. 
Average number of hours per week that children are employed in home duties. . 


11 
399 









INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 67 



SUMMARY OF BOTH EACES. 



Of the total number, 2,464, reporting from all schools, both white 
and colored, 543, or 22 per cent, were employed after school and on 
Saturday, and 601, or 24 per cent, were employed during the last 
summer vacation. 

In the white schools the boys were employed in home duties 5 
hours per week and the girls 4. In most cases these home duties are 
indefinite and do not require any regular amount of time. The col- 
ored boys are engaged in home work for 8 hours per week and the 
girls 11. 

AVAILABILITY AND ADAPTABILITY OF LAND FOE GAEDENING. 

Of the 1,728 children reporting from the white schools, 27 live in 
apartments, tenements, or flats where the back-yard space must be 
used by two or more families. The teachers of the upper grades of 
the six white schools report that 450 children have at least 400 square 
feet available for gardening, 189 have 800 square feet, and 197 have 
2,500 square feet ; 836 thus have 400 square feet or more in their own 
back yard that could be used for gardening. In practically all 
schools districts, with the possible exception of the Waverley and 
Blossom Street districts, there is enough land for every child to 
have a plat of 400 square feet or more, either in the home back yard 
or on vacant lots. There are large vacant tracts of land near the 
Waverley School, and the majority of the children attending the 
Blossom Street School come from parts of the city not as congested 
as that near the school building. The Shandon School district is 
ideal for the carrying out of school-directed home gardening, as the 
home lots are large and there is a large amount of vacant land. The 
Taylor, McMaster, and Logan Schools are in the older sections of 
the city, where the vacant land has been largely built upon. The 
house lots in the Taylor and McMaster districts are large, and in a 
large per cent of the homes there is enough back-yard space for the 
production of vegetables for the family. The planting of many 
shade trees has rendered some of these yards unfit for gardening, 
and in others much of the space has been used for the planting of 
" old-fashioned gardens " of flowers and flowering shrubbery. In the 
Logan School district the lots are smaller and there are fewer vacant 
areas. To the west and north of this district there are open farming 
districts that are within walking distance. 

The soil in Columbia is a light sandy loam, ideal for gardening. 
The ridge on which a large part of the city is located is a continua- 
tion of the famous Dutch Fork truck crop section to the north of the 
city, and a smaller commercial vegetable-growing district is located 
on the same ridge to the south. 



68 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

THE son, StTBVEY OF BICHT.AND COtTNTY. 

The Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, in a " Soil Survey of Richland County," gives the following 
account of this soil: 

The Orangeburg sandy loam is not widely distributed, being largely confined 
to a belt extending from a point near Columbia almost to the Wateree River. 
The city of Columbia and a number of its suburbs are situated largely on 
this type. Two areas occur in the Sandhill region. This type is most closely 
associated with the Marlboro sandy loam. 

The surface over the greater part of the type ranges from nearly level to 
gently rolling. A few fairly steep slopes occur, but none of the land is too 
steep or rough for the use of improved farm machinery. All the type is well 
drained, but erosion is active in only a few places. 

Its high-productive capacity makes this a relatively important type. Prac- 
tically all of it is in cultivation, except the areas occupied by the city of 
Columbia and its suburbs. The type has only a moderate content of organic 
matter, but its power to hold moisture is comparatively good, and it is easily 
tilled. It responds readily under good farming methods, and is one of the best 
general farming soils in the State, being especially adapted to cotton. 

Cotton is the leading product and the money crop. Corn follows closely in 
acreage, with oats and cowpeas next in importance, the former usually being 
cut for foliage. The type is not used for trucking to any considerable extent. 
Peaches are grown on a small scale for home use. Cotton ordinarily yields 
from one-half to one bale per acre, but as much as one and one-half bales per 
acre has been produced by a few farmers. Corn under good management yields 
from 25 to 50 bushels per acre, but the average return is between 15 and 20 
bushels. Oats yield from 20 to 35 bushels per acre. The yield of cowpea hay 
ranges from 1 to 2 tons per acre. 

The farming methods and fertilizer practices on this soil differ little from 
those on the Norfolk sandy loam. No cover crops are grovra, and green-manure 
crops are grown by only a few farmers. Covrpeas are quite commonly grown 
in cornfields and after oats, but the seed is gathered and the vines are either 
pastured or cut for hay ; so that the full benefit of a green-manure crop is not 
obtained. No other legumes are grown. In cotton and corn growing little or 
no care is used in the selection of seed. The only change in crops is from 
cotton or corn, with cowpeas or oats occasionally intervening. Most of the 
steeper slopes are terraced, but in some places the terracing has been poorly 
done. A large part of the type is farmed by tenants. 

The sale value of farm land of this type ranges from $50 to $100 an acre, 
except in the immediate vicinity of Columbia, where it is held at a much 
higher price. 

The subsoil structure of this type is such that there is considerable nin-off, 
unless the surface is nearly level. All slopes subject to erosion should be 
farmed under the contour system. If this is not effective in checking erosion, 
terraces should be constructed at frequent intervals. Slopes too steep to 
protect by terracing should be used for permanent pasture or reforested. A good 
means of protecting the surface is the growing of winter cover crops, such as 
winter grains, cowpeas, and vetch. The vegetation not only serves to protect 
the surface from erosion but contributes to the organic-matter content when 
plowed under in the spring. The use of lime would be beneficial in connec- 
tion with green manuring. Deeper and better plowing and frequent shallow 
cultivation of crops would make the soil more retentive of moisture. The 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 69 

adoption of systematic crop rotations on tliis soil is advisable, and a greater 
diversity of crops should be grovrn, so tbat cotton vpould be a surplus product 
and other crops be grown extensively enough to supply the home and farm 
needs. Fruits, especially peaches, could well be grown commercially. Peach 
orcharding is successfully engaged in on this type elsewhere in this State and 
in Georgia. 

The climatic conditions in Columbia are such that practical vege- 
table gardening can be carried on for the greater part of the year. 
The rainfall is generally well distributed throughout the year and 
by careful cultivation can, in most years, be conserved for the pro- 
duction of all crops without resorting to artificial watering. The 
city water is sold on a relatively high meter rate, which makes the 
use of city water in the vegetable garden expensive. 

PRESENT AGEICULTTJBAL INTERESTS OF THE HOME. 

In order to determine the value of instruction in the scientific care 
of gardens and of small animals of economic importance, it is neces- 
sary to learn in what percentage of the homes, gardens are made, 
and in what percentage animals of economic importance are kept. 
From a report of 1,728 pupils it has been found that in 812 white 
homes some kind of garden is made, and 459 children claim to have 
gardens of their own or are helping with the family garden. Many 
of the gardens are small and some of the children have reported lawn 
flower plats as gardens. The production is much less than should 
be the case if the gardening were done scientifically throughout the 
year. Poultry is kept at 302 homes, pigeons at 138, and rabbits at 51. 
In visiting the back yards it was found that the people need many 
lessons on the care and feeding of animals and especially on the 
keeping of animals in a sanitary condition. The pigeons and rabbits 
were in most cases kept as pets. 

Of the 739 colored children reporting, 388 state that there is a 
garden in their home, and 188 children claim some share in the 
garden work. Poultry is kept at 268 homes, pigeons at 66, and rab- 
bits at 10. The necessity for instruction in the care of these animals 
is greater than in the white homes, as the yards are smaller and 
less sanitary. 

RELATION OF IDLENESS AND NONCOMPULSOEY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TO JUVENILE 

OFFENSES. 

It was impossible to get as complete statistics of petty offenses and 
juvenile play activities that bring children into court as has been the 
case in other cities where surveys were made. Juvenile cases in 
Columbia are brought before the judge who hears adult cases. A 
definite record of juvenile cases was available only for the year 1917. 
During that year 529 cases of children between the ages of 8 and 17 



70 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 



were heard. The causes for a large number of these cases were listed 
under the following headings: Disorderly conduct, 208; petty lar- 
ceny, 96; vagrancy, 44. The cases were distributed as to age, color, 
and sex as follows : Colored boys, 327 ; colored girls, 86 ; white boys, 
111; and white girls, 5. The ages of the children are shown in the 
following table: 

Juvenile offenses. 



Male colored- 


Male white- 


Female colored- 


Female white- 


Age. 


Cases. 


Age. 


Cases. 


Age. 


Cases. 


Age. 


Cases. 




78 
53 
38 
30 
39 
41 
19 
10 
5 
8 


17 


21 
17 
13 
9 
9 
14 
8 
7 

6 


17. ... 


16 
33 
13 

7 
7 
4 
2 


17 


2 


16 


16 


16. 


16. 


1 


15 




15 


15 




14.. 




14 


13 


1 


13 




13 


Total 




12 . 




12. 


5 


11 




11 




10 


10 


10 




9 


9. 


9. 


2 
1 

1 




8 ... 


8. 


8. 






Total 


7 






Total 




Total. 


327 


111 


86 













As shown by the above table, a very large number of the offenses 
are committed by colored boys. By referring to preceding tables it 
will be noted also that a large proportion of the colored boys leave 
school before reaching the upper grammar grades. In the two col- 
ored schools there were 514 girls and only 225 boys reporting from 
the four upper grades. The boys are not required to attend school. 
It is often impossible for them to obtain work. In idleness they 
become vicious. 

There is undoubtedly a very definite relation between the malicious 
mischief of children and the fact that they are not required to attend 
school. Many children found on the streets during school hours said 
they were not in school " because there were no seats for them." Sev- 
eral stated that they went to the nearest school, but were told that 
there was not any room for them in the grade they were fitted to 
enter. In all cases these children came to the school several days 
after the school term had opened, and without doubt some of the 
children did not go to the school at all, but simply used this as a 
method of excusing their absence. 

An investigation of the number of white children of school age 
who were on the streets of Columbia one school day in April last 
between the hours of 9 a. m. and noon was made upon the sugges- 
tion of Miss L. S. Olney, superintendent of the Bureau of Protection, 
by students of the University of South Carolina working under the 
direction of Dr. Josiah Morse. A total of 140 children of school 
age were counted, of whom 90 were questioned about their absence. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 



71 



It is thought that the results are typical of what may be found on 
any school day. 

Interviews with 90 of the children brought out the fact that 28 
were enrolled in school; 54 were not enrolled; and the remaining 8 
made no statement on this point. 

The reasons given for their nonattendance at school were as fol- 
lows: 

Sickness and vaccination 18 

Working and helping at home 18 

Poverty, no clothes, no books . 13 

Family moved or moving 13 

Don't want to go 8 

Parents indifferent 7 

Truancy 6 

Refused to answer 4 

Expelled 3 

As to the ages of these children, the following shows the distribu- 
tion : 





6 


7 




9 


10 


. 11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 








4 


12 


7 


10 


13 


8 


5 


9 


9 


6 









Of the 28 children who were enrolled in the schools but who were 
on the streets, the following shows the distribution by age and by sex : 



Ages 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 








Boys 

Girls 


i 

1 


2 
2 





2 
1 


3 
2 


2 
2 


2 






1 



i 


2 



Total 


1 


4 


1 


3 


5 


4 


2 


2 


1 


4 


2 



From this investigation it would seem that about one-third of the 
children of school age who are out of school are enrolled in school, 
but not attending regularly. In certain parts of the city, especially 
the western part, there are certain localities where it is evident that 
there are large numbers of children of school age who are not at- 
tending school. 

As shown by the lack of clothing, books, and the employment of 
children, poverty is an important factor in causing this irregularity 
of attendance as well as the failure to enroll in the schools. Never- 
theless, this can be overcome in large measure through cooperation 
with the Associated Charities, and through the help of benevolent 
individuals. Though, without doubt, poverty is responsible for 
much of it, the chief factor in producing this situation is the indif- 
ference of parents. The need of the hour is the devising of some way 
of overcoming this failure of many parents to recognize the value of 
education to their children. 



72 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The need of an energetic enforcement of the compulsory attend- 
ance law is clear. With an efficient attendance officer who followed 
up every case of nonattendance promptly, th-is situation would soon 
be rectified. 

PEESENT TRAINING AND POSSIBILITIES FOB FUTURE TRAINING OF THE CITY TEACHERS 
IN HOME GARDENING. 

The principal of one white school reports that one teacher in his 
school is qualified to direct garden work and another reports that 
one teacher is partly prepared for this work. In the colored schools, 
one teacher in the Booker T. Washington School is training to direct 
the home gardening of children, but the Howard School does not 
have a teacher qualified to engage in the work. 

At the present time practical courses in gardening are not given in 
any school in Columbia. The University of South Carolina offers 
several courses in agriculture. Teachers who wish to get special 
training for this work could do so in summer schools; however, 
teachers with native ability would gain as much by enlisting the chil- 
dren in school into home-gardening classes and studying books and 
bulletins on the subject. 

In organizing a high-school course in agriculture, as outlined in 
the first section of this report, the high-school teacher of agriculture 
should become supervisor of the home-garden work of the grade 
children and should train garden teachers for each school. 

Based on the number of children reporting from the upper grades 
of the grammar school, the following number of teachers would be 
required to direct the home gardening of the pupils :. Blossom Street 
School, 1 ; Logan School, 3 ; McMaster School, 3 ; Taylor School, 2 ; 
Shandon, 2; Waverley, 1 — twelve in all. This does not mean that 
12 extra teachers should be employed, but rather that 12 of the regu- 
lar teachers should be paid an extra salary for work after school and 
Saturday and during the summer vacation. On the basis of salaries 
paid teachers in other cities for this work, the teachers should receive 
an extra salary of $10 per month for working after school and on 
Saturday for the nine school months, and $50 per month for the 
three vacation months, or a cost of $2.40 per teacher, requiring $2,880 
for the 12 teachers. 

In the colored schools 3 garden teachers would be required in the 
Booker Washington School and 4 in the Howard School, which, on 
the same time and salary basis, would cost the school department 
$1,685. 

By this plan 19 garden teachers would be employed to direct the 
productive occupation of the 2,464 pupils, or 130 pupils per teacher, 
during the out-of-school time. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 73 

The total cost to the city would be $4,565, from which investment 
$24,640 would be returned if each child netted only $10 for his 
year's work. Four or five times this amount should be produced. 

SCHOOL-DIEECTED HOME GABDENING AS A PAET OF THE SCHOOL CUEEICUXUM. 

In the foregoing sections of this report it has been shown that a 
large percentage of the Columbia school children do not have definite 
occupation during the hours that they are out of school; that at 
least half of the daylight hours and half of the days of the year are 
spent out of school ; that gardening and other agricultural activities 
of the city homes could be increased in money return by education; 
that there is enough vacant land in back yards and vacant lots to 
furnish a garden for practically all school children; that the soil is 
ideal for gardening and that the climatic condition is very favorable 
for year-round gardening; that a large number of boys commit 
juvenile-court offenses, which seems to have a direct relation to the 
large amount of time that the children are idle ; that a large number 
of children do not attend school, and that of those who are enrolled 
the attendance is not regular, which facts may be partly attributable 
to the academic nature of all of the school work and the lack of 
manual work that appeals to the child and helps hold him in school ; 
that only three teachers are now trained to direct garden work, but 
that a sufficient number could be trained in the high-school agricul- 
tural department to accomplish the work in all the schools; and that 
gardening as a part of school work would cost the city $4,565, from 
which investment more than $100,000 of wealth should be produced, 
not to mention the educational value which would accrue from the 
work. 

THE EECEEATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

The playground and recreation activities in the city are now or- 
ganized as a department of municipal recreation without official 
connection with the schools. The supervisor of playgrounds directs 
organized games at the schools during the recess and noon-hour 
periods, and in the summer the playground teachers use the school 
grounds as play centers. In the main the cooperation between the 
school and playground department is working out harmoniously, 
but because the playground work is not considered a school activity 
the toilets and basement rooms for dressing rooms and storage are 
not open to the playground teachers and children. The supervisor 
as an official of the school department would, under the direction of 
the superintendent of schools, become a part of the teaching staff 
and could have direct access to the children at all times and freedom 
in the use of buildings and equipment. The supervisor of play- 
grounds should then have charge of organized games at recesses, 



74 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

train the public-school teachers to conduct calisthenic relaxing ex- 
ercises between class periods, utilize school grounds for the play of 
children and adults, and use the school buildings as community cen- 
ters. As a part of the school system the recreational department 
should be most effective and eventually would be more economical 
to the city. 

In his report for the school year 1916-17 the superintendent of 
schools recommended that the school board employ a director of 
physical culture and athletics, both in the school and on the play- 
ground and also that a larger use of school buildings as community 
centers be made. To establish such departments in the schools and 
to continue the work of the department of municipal recreation 
would mean a double cost to the city and an overlapping of effort. 
The work of both these departments is highly educational; the 
schools are or should be the centers of population and several of the 
Columbia schools have large playgrounds. Considering the ques- 
tion of recreation from all standpoints, it seems that it would be more 
efficient and more effective if placed under the control of the board of 
education. 

SUMMARY. 

1. That agricultural courses be introduced in the Columbia High 
School and that the instructor be employed for the full year. 

2. That the instructor in agriculture require all pupils to complete 
an agricultural project at home which will illustrate the work of the 
school year. That the instructor visit the projects and give instruc- 
tion in the scientific carrying out of the agricultural problem. 

3. That the high-school instructor in agriculture be required to 
supervise the grade teachers in their direction of home gardening 
and to train these teachers. 

4. That 12 teachers in the white schools and 7 in the colored 
schools be employed after school, on Saturdays, and during the vaca- 
tions to teach school-directed home gardening. 

5. That the 19 teachers to be employed be taken from the regular 
grade teachers who have been trained to do garden work by the 
high-school teacher of agriculture. That these teachers be paid an 
extra salary for extra work. 

6. That the department of municipal recreation of the city be 
made a department of the schools, under the direction of the 
superintendent of schools, and that the department embrace all 
play-ground activities, the physical exercises of the schools, and 
the activities of the adult recreation and community centers. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 75 

4. NEITHER MANUAL ARTS NOR HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY TAUGHT IN 
THE ELEMENTARY GRADES AND BUT LITTLE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS. 

HOME MAKING THE CHIEF VOCATION OF WOMEN. 

However rapidly the door of opportunity among the industries is 
opening to women, it is still true, and doubtless will always so re- 
main, that for the greater proportion of American women home 
making is the principal vocation. And, indeed, no greater work 
for women can be conceived of, for in a very real way the health 
and material welfare of the Nation rest back upon the intelligent 
and efficient administration of the home. The battle, for example, 
to secure sanitary surroundings, to establish the habit of economy, 
to develop sound and sane thinking on public questions — all of which 
are necessary to withstand the attacks of disease, to forestall finan- 
cial panics, to prevent social disturbances of critical character — can 
never be won except as the homes of the Nation are universally en- 
listed in the struggle and the home makers are prepared by educa- 
tion and training to execute their tasks skillfully. 

The knowledge needed for efficient work in this connection does 
not come by inheritance, nor is it acquired merely through associa- 
tion with those who have it. Imitation of others and the process of 
" trial and failure " teach one much, but as methods of preparing 
for the complex activities of the home they are inadequate beyond 
a very narrow range. In one department of the home maker's ac- 
tivity alone, that of selecting and preparing foods, the woman who 
to-day is efficient has a knowledge of food sources, of food produc- 
tion, of the dietetic values of various foods, of the effect of heat upon 
each, of the healthful combinations which can be made with them, 
and of how these food combinations can be prepared and served in 
appetizing ways. Such knowledge presumes some understanding, 
at least, of several of the sciences and the relation of these to the 
home. Obviously, imitation and experience alone can never give 
such a content; specific training under intelligent direction must 
be had. 

An important duty of the school is found just here, for this train- 
ing needed by the prospective home maker can best be gotten through 
the medium of the school. The school, therefore, should see to it 
that before the girl drops out she will have had the maximum train- 
ing in the arts and the sciences which contribute to home making. 
The school should provide opportunity for giving such a content to 
those young women also who are employed and yet who will ulti- 
mately find themselves at the head of a household. To a third 
group, too, the school should open its doors — to the group of adult 
women who already have homes of their own and yet who have never 



76 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

had the opportunity to secure the training which will make them 
skillful and efficient in their households. 

THE WAGE-EAENING PEEIOD OF WOMEN. 

The fact remains, however, that only a small percentage of the 
number who finally become home makers enter the vocation direct 
from the school. Many of them, and the proportion is rapidly 
increasing, spend a time after leaving school in the various wage- 
earning occupations which are open to women. In meeting the voca- 
tional needs of women, therefore, the problem of the school is a 
double one. First, there is the problem of providing the training 
which woman in her capacity as home maker will need ; and, second, 
there is the problem of giving her in addition the training which 
she will need in the industries or professions which she will enter 
between school and marriage. 

The transitory character of the wage-earning period in the lives 
of women is clearly brought out in a study made in the city of 
Cleveland by Lutz.^ Lutz found that in Cleveland 60 per cent of the 
girls between the ages of 16 and 21 were at work in some wage- 
earning occupation. Of the group between the ages of 21 and 45 
only 26 per cent were so occupied, while of the third group, 45 years 
and over, only 12 per cent were to be found enrolled among the 
industries and professions. While the proportions will undoubtedly 
vary in different cities, yet in this particular at least it is probable 
that Cleveland is nearly typical of the cities of this country. 

Of every 1,000 of Cleveland women between the ages of 16 and 21 
Lutz also found the following occupational distribution : 

Occupational distribution of 1,000 women wage earners {Cleveland) from 16 
to 21 years. {Adapted from Lutz.) 

Manufacturing and mechanical industries : Number. 

Apprentices to dressmakers and milliners 4 

Dressmakers and seamstresses (not in factory) 20 

Milliners and millinery dealers 17 

Semiskilled operatives — 

In candy factories 6 

In cigar and tobacco factories 15 

In electrical-supply factories 10 

In knitting mills 11 

In printing and publishing 8 

Woolen and worsted mills — 

Weavers : 5 

In other occupations 7 

Sewers and sewing-machine operators (factory) 53 

Tailoresses 25 

Transportation : 

Telephone operators 19 

*Lutz, K. R. Wage Earning and Education, Cleveland Education Survey. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 77 

Trade : Number. 

Clerks in stores : 28 

Saleswomen (in stores) 35 

Professional service: 

Musicians and teachers of music 6 

Teachers (school) 4 

Domestic and personal service : 

Charwomen and cleaners 5 

Laundry operatives 13 

Servants 81 



Clerical occupations : 

Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants 26 

Clerks (except in stores) 20 

Stenographers and typewriters 62 

Not among wage earners 400 

Scattered among unimportant occupations 111 

Total ^ 1,000 

TELE TEAINING OF WOMEN FOE THE 0CCT7PATI0NS. 

An examination of this table shows that about 20 per cent of those 
who are wage earners work with the needle; about 10 per cent are 
in that group of occupations requiring some technical operative 
skill ; 10 per cent are in the stores serving as clerks and saleswomen ; 
18 per cent are in domestic and personal service; 18 per cent are to 
be found among the clerical occupations ; while the remainder, about 
24 per cent, are scattered about in small groups among a number of 
lesser occupations. Except there should come about some such eco- 
nomic and occupational shift as now obtains throughout the country 
on account of the war situation, the future occupation of both boys 
and girls who are in a school system at a given time will in all prob- 
ability differ but little from the occupational distribution of the 
adults of the community which obtains at the same time. Such a 
table, then, worked out for each community, for both women and 
men, will provide the school with a dependable basis for deter- 
mining in detail what work it can give which will best meet the 
needs of those who are going to become the wage earners of the 
community. 

Of the occupational groups of women mentioned in the foregoing 
table it is clear that the training needed for two of them, the needle 
workers and the workers in domestic and personal service, will not 
differ except in degree from that training which is needed by those 
who are to enter the more permanent vocation of the home maker. 
As to training for semiskilled operatives and for positions as clerks 
and saleswomen in stores, the school can not profitably accomplish 
much, for it lacks the proper equipment and the proper setting ; fur- 
thermore, training for such vocations can best be obtained, it would 



78 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

seem, in the vocations themselves. Only one group, then, remains to 
be considered, that comprising the clerical and secretarial occupa- 
tions. Even here there is a considerable content of value to the 
prospective home maker, although certain elements in the training 
required for office work, while certainly not a hindrance to the home 
maker, yet are of necessity carried further than would be justified 
were home making alone to be considered. 

It may be urged, however, that it is highly desirable that every 
woman become sufficiently skilled in some wage-earning occupation 
so that if she should suddenly become dependent for a livelihood 
upon her own efforts she will not find it difficult to make the adjust- 
ment. Were such training insisted upon, many a tragedy would 
certainly be averted. The school, therefore, in providing for the 
needs of the home maker need not hesitate in carrying certain phases 
of its work to a point where the young women will acquire skill 
sufficient to make them self-supporting. Indeed, if the school stops 
short of this point it is in serious fault, for it will not have done its 
full duty. 

In meeting this twofold need of its girls, the school naturally will 
lean most heavily upon its department of household econt)my and 
its commercial department. The courses offered in both these de- 
partments should be so arranged that it will be possible to carry 
the work given from the standpoint of the home maker to such a 
degree of specialization and of proficiency in the junior and senior 
high-school periods that with a very little special technical train- 
ing on the outside the girl can become self-supporting if the need 
should arise. 

THE PROBLEM OF THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING OF BOYS. 

With the boys the problem is much more complicated, for the 
range of occupations open to them and among which they will ulti- 
mately be distributed is as wide as business itself. Lutz's study of 
the occupational distribution of native-born men between the ages 
of 21 and 45, again referring to the Cleveland survey, shows the 
following approximate proportions: 

Occupational distribution of {Cleveland) men wage earners 21 to Jf5 years. 

Approximate 
per cent. 

Manufacturing and mechanical occupations 44 

Commercial occupations 20 

Clerical occupations 16 

Transportation occupations 11 

Domestic and personal-service occupations 5 

Professional occupations S 

Public-service occupations 1 

Total 100 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 79 

As each of these groups includes a number of highly differentiated 
occupations, it is clear that the school as usually organized, as Lutz 
points out, will not bring together a sufficient number of pupils who 
are heading toward a particular occupation to justify, on the ground 
of cost alone, such differentiated courses as the ultimate vocational 
distribution would demand. Neither, it may be added, are the in- 
tentions of the individual pupils respecting future vocational place- 
ment sufficiently well known to justify a high degree of specialization 
of school courses in the earlier years at least. 

THE MANUAL ARTS COURSE. 

It would seem, therefore, on account of the immaturity of the boys 
of the elementary grades and also because there are too few whose 
future needs are definitely known, that a manual arts course, gen- 
eral in character, is all that the school can profitably offer in this 
first division of our school system. There is a content here, how- 
ever, which is of definite value, for by it familiarity with the com- 
mon tools can be given and some readiness developed in their use 
in connection with the making of the various common articles for 
which the manual-training shop provides opportunity. The shop, 
too, can be made the starting point for valuable general information 
about the world of industry, so that a foundation, in part at least, 
can be laid for an intelligent choice of a vocation when the time 
comes for the decision. 

In the junior high-school division (the seventh, eighth, and ninth 
grades) more pupils are congregated at a given point; they are 
more mature; their future needs are somewhat more clearly de- 
fined in individual cases; and so the school here should find a 
convenient node for an approach to some of the more common 
industries and skilled trades. How far the school can go in spe- 
cialized training for particular occupations here again turns largely 
upon local conditions respecting funds, equipment, and the group- 
ing of the pupils as to future needs. 

THE COOPERATIVE SCHOOL PLAN. 

Inasmuch, however, as it would require an equipment prohibitive 
in cost to prepare fully for the training for any considerable num- 
ber of the occupations of a given community, the plan is growing 
in favor of effecting an arrangement between the school and the 
established industries of the community whereby the pupils, both 
boys and girls, may spend half of their time in school and the 
other half in industrial or business plants, getting their training 
in the industry itself. The plan as developed provides that pupils 
shall pair off; that one of the pair shall be in school and his alter- 
nate in the particular business plant to which he is assigned; and 



80 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 

that at the end of every period, usually two weeks, a shift be made, 
the one in the school taking his place in the business while the one 
in the business plant returns to his school classes. Two weeks later 
the situation is reversed, and so on throughout the duration of tiie 
arrangement. 

There are many reasons which can be urged in support of this 
plan of cooperation between the school and the business world. In 
the first place, it relieves the school of the necessity of installing 
a very expensive equipment. Then, it is impossible for the school 
to simulate closely enough the complex conditions under which 
most vocations are conducted to make the training which it gives 
of much practical value. Moreover, success in a given vocation 
often depends more upon adaptability to conditions tiiat can not 
be reproduced in the schoolroom -than upon mere knowledge of 
technique. Pedagogues can not be expected to teach the technique 
of specialized vocations any more than blacksmiths can be relied 
upon to enter the schoolroom and teach Latin. Instead, then, of 
bringing the great multitude of highly differentiated occupations 
into the schoolroom, the way out surely lies in taking the school to 
the occupations. 

An approach to the industries, however, can profitably be made 
in the school shop and school office. The school can systematize, 
organize, and give an orderly presentation of the chief elements of 
many common vocations more quickly and more clearly than can 
years of work under the stress and strain of the activity itself. 
Then, opportunity can not always be provided for all of the pupils 
of a school who might desire practical work in their chosen vocation 
under actual conditions. Moreover, there are many students in 
both the junior and senior high schools who wish opportunity 
for general polytechnic experience without committing themselves 
to a particular occupation. 

A combination of these two plans, then, it would seem, would best 
meet the complex needs of a community in respect to helping its 
youth in choosing occupations wisely and in giving the requisite 
special training for success in them. 

THE SITUATION IN THE WHITE SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA. 

Formerly both sewing and manual arts were taught in the elemen- 
tary grades of the Columbia schools, but when the high school was 
completed it was found that the funds were not sufficient to provide 
an adequate outfit for the high-school shops and sewing and cooking 
rooms, so the equipment of the grade schools was transferred to the 
high-school building and the work in the grades given up. 

The high-school curriculum as now organized requires that all 
girls in the first and second years take sewing and cooking and that 



INSUFFICIENT MAIISTTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 81 

the boys shall take shopwork in manual arts. An " industrial home 
economics" course is also provided for in the high-school schedule, 
but none of the girls has as yet entered it. In practice a pupil may 
sew about one and one-half hours each week and cook for the same 
length of time, though frequently this time allotment is cut down 
for other things. In an entire semester, as it works out, the aggre- 
gate sewing practice which a girl actually gets is not more than the 
equivalent of two and one-half days of eight hours each. In conse- 
quence of this brief time allowance and because of other unsatis- 
factory conditions the high-school pupil of Columbia becomes no 
more efficient in sewing and cooking than do children of the sixth 
and seventh grades of many cities. 

Owing to these conditions the girls of the Columbia High School 
are given no opportunity to become proficient in judging of materials, 
in choosing designs, in 'developing a discriminating judgment as to 
the value of ready-to-wear garments, and in learning to appreciate 
suitable color combinations. Neither is there time for awakening 
an intelligent interest in problems relating to hygiene and sanitation, 
to household construction and furnishing, to household administra- 
tion and accounting, nor to the nutritional and economic facts re- 
lating to foods. 

The pupils in sewing do much more "model making" than pro- 
gressive sewing teachers consider desirable. In the cooking classes 
the pupils follow closely the adopted text rather than bringing in 
material for the recitation from the outside. Then, too, their cook- 
ing recipes provide for the smallest quantity of prepared food only, 
a method which is comparable to "model sewing." This procedure 
is justifiable only when the time limits are such that no other plan 
is possible. 

The method of registration in use in Columbia also reacts badly 
upon the work of the sewing and cooking teachers. The difficulty 
of making out individual term programs which do not conflict has 
led to the custom of permitting pupils in the home economics de- 
partment to take their prescribed two years of work at any time 
during the four years of the high-school course. This results in 
mixed classes in both the sewing and cooking ; that is, in classes hav- 
ing pupils of all degrees of advancement. In such a situation class 
teaching is impossible. In consequence, either the teacher must give 
up her time to individual instruction or else certain pupils are 
obliged to repeat work previously done. The same difficulty obtains 
also in the cooking classes. 

The trouble undoubtedly runs back to the fact that in making out 
the pupils' program, cooking and sewing are given subordinate 
places, as compared with, other subjects, and that whenever an ad- 
76482—18 6 



82 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

justment of program is necessary it is made at the expense of sewing 
and cooking. If these subjects were given more consideration at the 
time when pupils are registered and schedules made out, the classi- 
fication of pupils would be much more nearly uniform, resulting in 
turn in an improvement in the quality of instruction. 

CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO GOOD TEACHING. 

It is useless to discuss the quality of the teaching of home-eco- 
nomics subjects when done under such circumstances. With un- 
prepared students, with classes of varying degrees of advancement, 
with short and infrequent periods of instruction and with classes 
which are overcrowded and which have insufficient equipment, good 
teaching is impossible. A complete change of prescribed course, ad- 
ditional time allotment to home economics, careful classification of 
students and improved equipment are necessary preliminaries to 
better teaching. Time to visit schools with modern equipment and 
standard methods of teaching is particularly needed by teachers of 
home economics, because this line of work is developing so rapidly 
that only by strenuous efforts and liberal opportunities for ob- 
servation can teachers keep abreast of the newer practices in home- 
economics instruction. With the meager salaries heretofore paid to 
teachers, the travel and study so desirable for all teachers and so es- 
sential, particularly for those employed in teaching a new and un- 
standardized subject, are impossible. 

The present equipment in the cooking laboratory of the high school 
is fair. The exposure of cooking utensils to dust is most insanitary, 
however. The desks should have been provided with drawers and the 
utensils protected thereby. The sinks are too few and are badly lo- 
cated. Congestion around them is inevitable when 22 girls attempt 
to secure water for cooking or for dish washing. The provision for 
hot water is so poor that each individual must heat water before 
washing dishes or cleaning desks, resulting in much waste of time 
and at the end of the lesson the hurried completion of the work. 
Neither is the present method of caring for the floors satisfactory. 
To sweep during the preparation of food is an insanitary practice, 
and to depend upon the pupils to take the entire care of the floor 
makes careful scrubbing and cleaning impossible. A food laboratory 
should be so well equipped and so sanitary in care and construction 
that it will become a standard for home conditions in both food prep- 
aration and in housekeeping. 

Furthermore, the requirement that towels for hands and for dishes 
be brought from home is not desirable. In case infectious diseases 
exist in any home from which towels are brought there is risk that 
disease organisms may be left on the dishes which are later used by 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 83 

other children. To depend upon the children remembering to bring 
fresh towels to each lesson foredooms the teacher to annoyance and 
disappointment. 

The students in the cooking classes are not required to be as neat 
and as trim in appearance as they should be. Here also a standard 
should be set that could be transferred to the home kitchen of the 
girl. Pantry furnishings are inadequate as now supplied, and the 
total lack of dining-room furniture makes the teaching of food 
service impossible. The sewing room is well lighted and pleasant. 
There is a reasonable supply of sewing machines, but the tables are 
not of a type that are most convenient for work. . So many charts, 
well illustrated books, wall exhibits, and educational exhibits are ob- 
tainable, that no school is justified in not providing these aids for 
teaching, yet Columbia's department of home economics is without 
the commonest of these. 

It is desirable that pupils in the public schools be given opportu- 
nity to study the textile industries of the region and that excursions 
to the stores and the markets be regularly arranged for and reported 
upon in the classroom. Such work, where it is handled intelligently, 
will enable the girls to become intelligent and discriminating pur- 
chasers of household supplies. It will tend also to stimulate in them 
a healthful interest in civic problems. 

THE CONTENT WHICH SHOULD BE GIVEN. 

Home-economics training for the girls and manual arts for the 
boys should begin when the children are about 11 years of age. This 
means the organization of the work in the fifth grade for the usual 
students and in the fourth grade for over-age children and also for 
those who will probably leave the schools without entering the high 
school. Preliminary to definite work of this character there should 
be handwork for both boys and girls from the first to the fourth 
grade, inclusive. 

The first year of definite instruction in home making should con- 
sist of lessons in sewing and housekeeping. Such sewing as is done 
should be upon articles useful either to the child herself, to her 
doll, or to her mother, thus providing a motive and incentive. Each 
assigned task should be of a type that may be completed within a 
few weeks, that interest may not lag and a distaste for the work 
develop. In this and in all other home-economics work there should 
be flexibility in the courses arranged. The ends to be accomplished 
should be predetermined, but the particular problems to be assigned 
should be varied to meet the interests of the children. 

Crocheting, knitting, tatting, and simple designs in cross-stitch- 
ing come properly in this first course. The fingers are thereby 
trained and an appreciation for color and design developed. Paral- 



84 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

lei with this fifth grade sewing, instruction in the care of house- 
hold equipment and furnishing should be given. This is the time 
to teach careful and efficient dish washing, the care of left-over foods, 
the care of the refrigerator, the nice setting of the table, the dusting 
of living rooms and the putting of them in order, the making of 
beds, and the caring for the bathrooms and of the toilet articles. 
In the mill village section, the second semester might consist of 
lessons and instruction in personal hygiene. In the sixth grade the 
sewing should be paralleled by cooking and the practices of good 
housekeeping constantly reviewed. Here also one-half year may 
profitably be devoted to sewing and one-half year to food prepara- 
tion. The use of the sewing machine should be taught in the sixth 
grade, and thereafter attention should be given alike to neat, expedi- 
tious, handwork, machine work, and the use of commercial pat- 
terns. 

Small-quantity cooking is advisable during this year. The hands 
of little children are weak and small, and large quantities or large 
utensils are difficult to handle. Careful measuring, accuracy in fol- 
lowing recipes, knowledge of the effect of heat on food materials, and 
the proper care of cooking utensils may be taught at this time. 

The food course should not be rigid. The religious, financial, and 
social status of the children should be considered, and modification 
of the lessons made to meet existing conditions. If there is a proba- 
bility that the girls will leave school before reaching the eighth grade, 
more cooking with recipes suitable for family use should be intro- 
duced in the sixth year, and more attention should be given to the 
selection of foods and the planning of meals. 

All seventh, eighth, and ninth grade food preparation should be 
with family-quantity recipes and done under conditions similar to 
those which prevail within the home. When prepared in quantity, 
food may be disposed of in several ways. The school lunch, the 
teacher's daily lunch, food sales, the carrying home of the food — all 
offer means of reducing the cost of the class work and of increasing 
the value of the instruction. Uniformity in the method of the dis- 
posal of the products of classes in different parts of the city is not 
necessary. It is often well to combine two methods and thus in- 
crease the opportunities for varied experience in meal preparation. 
The work of the food class should never be determined by the needs 
of the school lunch nor by food sales. 

In the seventh grade systematic instruction in personal hygiene 
and home sanitation should be begun and with these should be taught 
the management of the laundry and the care of the house. All art 
instruction should be correlated with the classes in clothing and 
household furnishing. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 85 

In the eighth year of school work the home economics should con- 
sist of instruction in foods and food preparation, in textiles and 
clothing, and in household marketing and accounting. In this grade 
should be given a simple course in emergency treatments and in the 
care of the sick. 

The ninth grade, the first year of the high school in many places, 
should be a continuation of the work of the eighth grade and should 
comprise a survey of the essential facts relating to foods, to clothing, 
and to home management. This should complete the course in home 
economics which is required. Elective courses may be offered in 
all of the remaining years of the high school, and these may be 
shaped to offer training for wage-paying occupations. 

THE TIME EEQUIKED. 

The preceding plan of home economics instruction makes neces- 
sary certain time allowances. For fifth and sixth grade pupils four 
45-minute periods per week should be provided. These may be 
grouped into two quarter-day periods or reduced to a daily period 
of 35 minutes. In these grades the arrangement may be chosen which 
is most easily adjusted to the general class program. For the seventh 
and eighth grades from seven to nine 45-minute periods should be 
spent in the study of home-making subjects. This work may be 
arranged to occupy one morning and one afternoon per week and 
if properly correlated with language, arithmetic, geography, art, and 
history, will increase interest in these and make possible more rapid 
progress in all. 

Two double periods daily is the time allowance needed for instruc- 
tion in the ninth grade. This may be divided into two recitation, 
two study, and six laboratory periods. This work and the food 
classes of the seventh and eighth grades should be scheduled to come 
immediately before the lunch period in order that the food products 
can be utilized during that time. 

Owing to the climatic condition existing in Columbia, it will prob- 
ably be considered advisable to arrange the courses in home eco- 
nomics so that the food-preparation laboratory classes may be taught 
during November, December, January, February, and March, and 
the clothing courses be given during the early fall and late spring 
months. This arrangement necessitates little loss of room use and 
no disarrangement of schedules for either teacher or pupil if the 
teachers selected have the ability to teach all lines of home economics 
instead of special phases of the subject only. 



86 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

lSpecial work should be provided for the blossom street and granby schools. 

In the vicinity of the Blossom Street School there are numerous 
philanthropic and benevolent agencies which are giving instruction 
in home-making subjects. That these agencies are encouraging em- 
ployed girls and women and schoolgirls to increase their efficiency 
in household affairs is a cause for much thankfulness. But it may 
well be questioned if any school community is ever justified in 
depending upon benevolent agencies to do that for which it is 
responsible. 

In the Blossom Street and Granby School communities particu- 
larly, opportunities for home-economics instruction should be pro- 
vided for especially, for the children of mill workers are often older 
than the other children of their school grade. They have not always 
been fortunate in their country-school opportunities. They fre- 
quently come from homes where all the adult members leave early in 
the morning and return late at night, too fatigued to give attention 
to the children's school problems. Most of these children leave school 
as soon as they are old enough to enter remunerative employment. 
These conditions should be recognized and special facilities for the 
work of the character described provided in these localities. 

This section of Columbia merits, for example, a special vocational 
school in which all children of 14 or over, without regard to school 
ranking, may receive intensive vocational training, home-making 
courses for the girls and manual arts and agricultural courses for 
the boys. Such vocational work should occupy one-half of each day's 
time for each student, and all other school instruction should be 
correlated with this. In other words, such studies should furnish 
motives for all the drawing, reading, arithmetic, geography, spelling, 
composition, and hygiene required of the pupils. 

The home economics should closely articulate with the home life 
of the girls. Food prepared in classes should be used in the homes 
or at the noon lunches for the pupils in the school. The sewing- 
should emphasize quick and efficient choice of material and of ready- 
made garments, the repair and remaking of clothing, and the selec- 
tion, making, and care of household furnishings. The course in 
housekeeping should include practical instruction in all cleaning 
processes, including laundering, the keeping of accounts, the intel- 
ligent purchasing of household equipment and supplies, and very 
definite instruction in the elements of sanitation. Care of the sick 
and of children should likewise receive careful attention. 

A well-organized two years' course of the type above described is 
needed in Columbia. The classes should be small. Women of 
special ability should be placed in charge, and only those in sym- 
pathy with the purpose of this course should be assigned to the teach- 
ing of the common-school branches. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 87 

A TYPICAL VILLAGE HOUSE, FULLY EQUIPPED, IS NEEDED. 

So pressing is the need for intensive courses in home making that 
Columbia should immediately arrange temporary quarters for in- 
struction in these subjects. A building not greatly dissimilar to the 
average mill-village house would serve for several years. The 
sanitation of this house should be perfect and the furnishings of a 
type attainable by thrifty wage-earning people. Simplicity, sani- 
tation, suitability, and beauty should be emphasized. The house 
should provide a living room, kitchen, screened porches, bedroom, 
and bathroom. 

The classes assigned should not exceed 24, and for this number 
two teachers should be detailed to give instruction. The living room 
and bedroom should be used not only as rooms in which to practice 
housekeeping but also as sewing rooms and upon occasion as rooms 
in which to receive visitors. If possible, teachers should be em- 
ployed who would be willing to live in the house and thus afford 
more practical instruction to the children in the care of the home. 

Furthermore, this neighborhood offers a most excellent opportunity 
to establish and maintain a course in community cooking. The 
building now used by the Granby School would afford temporary 
quarters for a vocational course in cafeteria, restaurant, or com- 
munity food preparation. 

COUBSES FOE WOMEN WHO ABE EMPLOYED. 

Every employed young woman needs to know some home eco- 
nomics. She should be able to select her own clothing with discrimi- 
nation and to keep it in repair. This means that she must know- 
fabrics, be trained in standards of good taste, appreciate the need 
of the clothing suitable to her occupation and income, and must 
have sufficient dexterity to make her plainer garments and to keep 
all of her clothing mended. As efficiency in any occupation is 
largely dependent on the good physical condition of the worker, the 
young woman employee should know not only clothing but foods, 
hygiene, and sanitation as well. To secure this knowledge she 
should rightfully turn to the public schools, and to meet her needs 
there should be maintained definite, well-organized, and progressive 
courses of instruction offered at times when it is convenient for her 
to attend. 

At stated intervals special courses in home furnishing and home 
administration should be offered to young women who have re- 
cently married or who anticipate becoming home makers. No wholly 
satisfactory course can be administered if women of widely diverse 
experiences and needs are grouped together. Hence, courses for the 
actual housekeeper should be different from those given to the em- 



88 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

ployed young woman, and it is probable that teachers with different 
experiences. will be needed to teach these different groups of women. 

The most satisfactory course for the women who are actually 
operating homes of their own is that known as the " short unit " 
course, each unit of which comprises 8 or 10 lessons. Each unit is 
independent of those which precede or follow it and is complete in 
itself, though narrowly limited in the topics treated. For instance, 
a unit course might be upon the topic of " children's clothing " or 
" spring millinery," or " quick breads," or " meat cookery." 

Teachers with full work during the school day should not be 
permitted to teach these night or afternoon classes. Not only is the 
teacher overtaxed and her efficiency reduced, but also the type of 
teacher most desirable in one position may be far less adapted to 
meet the requirements of the other. 

EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOB HOME ECONOMICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL. 

The reorganization of the high-school home economics course and 
the prescribing of home economics in the eighth and ninth years for 
all high-school girls will necessitate the rearrangement of the equip- 
ment now in use, the replacement of faulty and worn articles, and 
the installation of new materials. The present food laboratory, when 
completely equipped, will furnish opportunity for some of the classes 
in food preparation, and if rightly arranged may also serve as a place 
in which the materials for noon lunches can be prepared and from 
which a cafeteria or plate luncheon can be served. While such an 
arrangement for service is not ideal, it is economical and under 
existing conditions not objectionable. If properly maintained, such a 
meal becomes educative to the consumer as well as to those who assist 
in its preparation. Men as well as women need to know how to 
select foods intelligently and to understand relative food values and 
correct food combinations. These facts may be taught through well- 
prepared luncheons if a very few minutes are spent in directing the 
student's attention to such matters. A small kitchen should be 
arranged in the space now used as a storeroom, with the dining 
room properly furnished. This would make it possible to serve regu- 
lar noon meals to the teachers of the building. This arrangement 
would also provide opportunity for the class, two girls at a time, 
to cook and serve meals prepared in family quantities. 

A new food laboratory will become necessary because of the in- 
crease in the number of hours of food w^ork recommended in the 
new course. It may be considered advantageous to equip the present 
sewing room for food classes and to change the clothing classes to 
more attractive rooms on one of the upper floors. The present sew- 
ing room is not well heated on cold days, a condition which is of 
little importance if used for food-preparation classes. A good high- 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 89 

school sewing course will require a large, well-lighted room for 
classwork, more machines, better tables and chairs, additional lockers 
and closets, a fitting room, and suitable arrangements for pressing 
clothing. It is probable that a second room will be found necessary, 
especially if it is decided to use the high school as a center for 
other schools. However, if it is the policy of the school authorities 
to make the present high school a senior high school, then only one 
room will be needed for the clothing classes. 

A girl's training in home making is not complete when she is able 
to select, purchase, prepare, and serve suitable foods and make for 
herself plain, economical, appropriate garments. Her high school 
should also equip her to select and to control intelligently the en- 
vironment of her home. In order that the care of rooms may be 
taught, and also that simple home nursing practice may be given, a 
room, perhaps the teacher's rest room, should be placed at the service 
of the home economics department. 

EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOE HOME ECONOMICS IN THE GRADE SCHOOLS. 

In certain cities of the United States it has been deemed most eco- 
nomical to equip " centers " for home economics teaching and to have 
the children go from their respective schools to these special rooms 
for industrial class work. Other cities have equipped home eco- 
nomics rooms in each school building. The latter plan is unques- 
tionably the best. The children are not upon the street between 
classes, nor are they exposed to disagreeable weather conditions with 
unnecessary frequency. When there is the necessity of changing the 
time schedule in one building, no conflicts occur with classes from 
other buildings, because all instruction is given under the same roof. 
The objections to this latter plan are, that the expense of equipment 
is somewhat increased; that in smaller schools the home economics 
classrooms remain unused during certain hours in the day; and 
that there are not enough children in one school to occupy the entire 
time of one home economics teacher ; hence it becomes necessary that 
the teacher travel from one building to another, giving part of her 
time to each. 

The only one of these objections which needs to be considered is 
that relating to partially unused room space. The interest on dupli- 
cated equipment represents so small an item that the objection in 
regard to this item merits little attention and can not be weighed 
against the loss of time and the increased hazards which result when 
children change from building to building. When school buildings 
are overcrowded, it seems unreasonable to have room space unoccu- 
pied for any considerable portion of the time. In all schools of the 
size of the McMaster, the Logan, and the Taylor School the home 
economics rooms will be in constant use, but at the Waverley School 



90 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

and at the Shandon building tlie enrollment is not sufficient to fill 
these special rooms all the time. For part of the time, then, these 
could be used for other purposes. 

If transfers from one building to another for home economics 
instruction be decided upon as most desirable for Columbia's present 
school condition, then all schedules should be so arranged that these 
transfers can be made at the usual recess periods, the child remain- 
ing one-quarter day or one-half day in home economics work. In 
many progressive city school systems, other supervised school activi- 
ties are brought into the building which affords accommodations for 
home economics. Thus in one-quarter of a day a child may receive 
instruction in home economics and during another quarter of a day 
he may spend his time in writing, drawing, gymnasium work, and 
directed play. 

Columbia has available basement rooms in the Logan and Mc- 
Master Schools, in which home economics equipment should be in- 
stalled. It would not be unreasonable to use these two temporarily 
as centers for the children from the Taylor and the Waverley build- 
ings. When a new building is constructed to meet the needs of the 
residents of the Waverley district, special provision should be made 
for accommodating the home economics classes. The Shandon School 
should have one room so equipped that it may serve for both the 
food and clothing classes. These children are too far from other 
schools to be sent to a " center." It is always most desirable to place 
the food laboratories on the top floor of the building, and in planning 
new buildings or in rearranging the old ones this fact should be borne 
in mind and this arrangement brought about if possible. 

THE SITUATION IN THE NEGRO SCHOOLS. 

Food preparation is given to the colored girls in the eighth, ninth, 
and tenth grades of the Howard School. Sewing is supposed to be 
taught to the seventh-grade girls, but because of the number of food- 
prej)aration classes it has been found impossible to give sewing this 
year. The course arranged by the teacher in food preparation was 
excellent, but its value was limited because of the very small quan- 
tities of food materials used. Efforts were made to emphasize the 
newer food-conservation ideas. Food preparation is taught in one 
of the basement rooms of the Howard School building. When out- 
side water faucets freeze or are shut off all students at this building 
come into the cooking-class room for drinking water. 

The floor of the laboratory is on the level with a very muddy yard, 
and conditions surrounding this building as well as all parts of the 
building itself are had. The cooking-class room is kept immaculately 
clean and the walls have been whitewashed by the students. The 
cooking utensils are of good quality and well kept, and there has 



IJ^SUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 91 

been liberality in the purchase of these and other supplies for this 
work. No sewing machines have been secured for this school. It is 
unreasonable to expect these girls to learn to make and to care for 
their own garments when not supplied with and taught how to use 
a sewing machine. The students themselves in the food classes were 
clean, orderly, and well disciplined. They worked quietly and 
methodically. Where there has been time to teach sewing, the girls 
have made their cooking uniforms. 

NEEDED EEOEGANIZATION OF HOME ECONOMICS FOB THE NEGEOES. 

The home-economics courses prepared for the negro girls should be 
intensely practical and required of all girls of 11 years and older, 
without regard to their school classifications. Children below the 
seventh grade in regular work should receive at least 60 minutes of 
daily instruction in home-making subjects. The first course should 
consist of work in sewing and housekeeping, especially stressing 
sanitary household practices and personal hygiene. During the 
second year of work the course should include the preparation of 
plain, wholesome food, simple machine sewing, and further instruc- 
tion in housekeeping. During the third year of the home economics 
lour quarter days or two half days per week should be devoted to the 
stuciy of home making. At this time cooking with family-sized 
recipes should be given, together with a study of meal planning and 
meal service and frequent lessons on the growing of gardens, the 
care of poultry, and in the economical purchase of foods. The sew- 
ing in both the second and the third year should include garments for 
personal use, for household use, or for the use of other members of 
the girl's family. Emphasis should be placed on the selection of 
fabrics and on the repair of worn garments. 

Home economics taught during the fourth and fifth years in this 
course — ^these grades being usually those of the eighth and ninth 
school years — should occupy two hours daily. The courses should 
include food preparation, garment making, lessons in laundering, 
household accounting, household sanitation, the care of children, and 
personal hygiene. The death rate among negro children is alarm- 
ingly high, and education is the only way to relieve this condition, 
since much sickness and many deaths are the result of ignorance and 
superstition. 

A course in cooking with vocational aims should be established 
for colored boys. Such work has been organized at San Antonio, 
Tex., Los Angeles, Cal., and at other places. At these points boys 
are prepared for work with the Pullman Co. and for service in 
hotels and restaurants. Cooks are now needed at camps, on ships, 
and in cantonments, and the need will continue for a number of 
years. Were such a training course established, it would be neces- 



92 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAKOLINA. 

sary to provide also a restaurant or lunch room in which to dispose 
of the products and give the necessary training in service. 

Special vocational training for adult women is needed among the 
colored people of Columbia. Such work as that now done at Rock 
Hill might well be copied. Rock Hill night classes are maintained 
for maids, and cooks in service, and for women maintaining their 
own homes. Besides the above course, there should be a vocational 
home-making course for girls over 14 who manifestly will not con- 
tinue in school more than one or two years. At least one-half of the 
school time should be devoted to home making, gardening, and poul- 
trying. All other studies should be correlated with this work. Such 
a course would lead to more permanent and satisfactory service 
while wage earning, and later would result in better kept, more 
healthful, and more contented homes among the negro families in 
Columbia. 

So long as there is a constant transfer from the negro home to the 
white employer's home, the sanitary and hygienic conditions of the 
one will be reflected in the health conditions of the other. It is poor 
economy to leave the negro untrained and in insanitary surround- 
ings, when the child of the white home is cared for and, to a con- 
siderable extent, trained by a nurse from a negro cabin. Physically 
and economically, the retardation of the one race reacts disadvsm- 
tageously on the conditions of the more fortunate group. Were 
there no other reasons than these, the negro boys and girls should be 
trained to become intelligent, diligent, clean, honest, self-supporting 
men and women, capable of enjoying the beauties of order, cleanli- 
ness, and simplicity. To this end, the home economics equipment 
should be taken out of its present quarters at the Howard School and 
placed under sanitary conditions. 

Home-economics rooms should be provided in every negro school, 
and a small house and garden spot should be connected with each 
school in which the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade children are in 
attendance. These practice houses should not be better than the 
negro wage earner might aspire to occupy; nor should equipment 
and furnishing be better than thrifty negro families could afford to 
copy. The school home-economics furnishing should be adapted to 
the special needs of the negro children. It should aid in establishing 
standards for them and should not be so different in quality or in 
appearance that the school instruction becomes, in the minds of the 
students, entirely separated from the housekeeping operations within 
their homes. 

SCHOOL LUNCHES. 

With the rearranged school schedule, elsewhere suggested, a short 
noon period in the high school will make necessary the service of a 



INSUFFICIENT MAI^rTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 93 

lunch at the school. Under no circumstances should this lunch privi- 
lege be granted to outside concessionaires. Food sold to school chil- 
dren should be furnished at actual cost. It should be of excellent 
quality and of a type that will furnish proper nutriment in an at- 
tractive form. The school lunch becomes an important agency in 
teaching both boys and girls the intelligent selection and the econom- 
ical purchase of cooked foods. An increasing number of Americans 
eat away from home one or more times a day. Usually the man or 
woman ordering cooked food knows little of its nutritional value; 
nor is he familiar with correct food combinations. It remains for 
the school to train in food selection, that adequate nourishment may 
be secured and that good digestion may be retained. 

Because the school lunch affords opportunity to the home-eco- 
nomics pupils to cook in larger quantities without unduly increasing 
the expenses incident to the maintenance of the department, it is 
proper that the home-economics teachers have charge over the entire 
preparation and service of the lunches. It will be necessary to have 
a hired woman to wash dishes and cook those foods which must be 
served frequently, but this woman should be directed by a member 
of the home-economics department in order that the rules for good, 
healthful food preparation shall not be violated and that the laws of 
sanitation may be observed. 

Columbia now has need, of school lunches served at her grade 
buildings as well. Many of the children of the elementary grades 
rise before daylight and breakfast with their working fathers or 
mothers. Many of these breakfasts are served before 6 in the morn- 
ing and some as early as 5. The parents of these children dine 
between 12 and 1 o'clock. Cold food which may or may not be re- 
heated is left for the child at his home coming. It is probably true 
that a large number of the children take an apple, some cookies, or a 
banana, but under existing conditions such children are not satisfac- 
torily nor sufficiently fed. The stomach of a child is smaller in 
proportion to its food needs than is that of an adult. It requires 
more frequent filling if it is to send into the blood enough nutriment 
to meet all the demands made upon a child's body by work, by play, 
and by growth. For a child to go from 6 in the morning until after 
2 in the afternoon without substantial food is to leave the child list- 
less and inattentive to lessons. Furthermore, the normal appetite 
is destroyed if the stomach is empty for too long a period. 

Underfed children do not develop into strong and efficient chil- 
dren. Dr. Wood figures that 25 per cent of all American children 
suffer from malnutrition. This condition is not necessarily depend- 
ent upon a restricted family income, for ignorance of the food needs 
of growing children is the commonest cause. Of 21,000 retarded 
children studied in one school system, it was found that 54.6 per cent 



94 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

were suffering from malnutrition. Since retardation and repetition 
of school work become the causes of the increased cost of instruction, 
it is apparent that children suffering from malnutrition are a drag 
and an expense upon the whole school organization. School feeding 
at noon is needed. It should not be established with the idea that it 
is exclusively for poor children. It should be for all children who 
wish to buy warm food. The food should be sold at cost. The prep- 
aration should be under sanitary conditions and properly controlled 
and directed. When children are hungry and can not buy, the school 
should, without humiliation to the child, supply tickets to the lunch, 
because, as has already been stated, it is an extravagance to retain 
children in school who are underfed. 

SUPERVISION AND INSTBUCTION. 

To organize and maintain the type of home-economics instruc- 
tion described in the foregoing pages, a well-trained, efficient, and 
enthusiastic corps of teachers will be required. Eesponsibility and 
authority for home-economics teaching should be centered in one 
supervisor or director of home economics. The person chosen will 
need to be broadly educated and specially trained in home economics. 
She will need to have had teaching experience and ample knowledge 
of climatic, economic, and racial conditions as they exist in South 
Carolina. Not only should she supervise the work in the white 
schools, but she should also have authority over instruction of 
similar nature when given in negro schools. This supervisor or 
director should be paid an adequate salary and recognized as a con- 
sultant in the construction of new buildings and as the purchasing 
agent for her own department and as the one having control of any 
or of all lunchroom arrangements hereafter provided for in the city 
schools of Columbia. The supervisor should also be granted the 
privilege of nominating her subordinates and should not be required 
to accept any candidate who does not meet her requirements. 

PEOGKESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF HOME ECONOMICS. 

To inaugurate the entire scheme of home-economics teaching as 
herein suggested would entail a sudden and burdensome expense 
upon the public-school authorities; hence the following suggestions 
are offered. 

1. During the first year after the presentation of this report, re- 
organize the high-school work in home economics, and properly 
equip the rooms now in use. Suggestions for these needed changes 
are made elsewhere. 

2. Require a new course for all high-school girls. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 95 

3. Bring all seventh-grade girls from the Taylor, Logan, Mc- 
Master, and Shandon schools to the present high-school laboratories 
for their classes in home economics. 

4. Establish the special vocational home-economics work in the 
Blossom Street and Granby School community immediately. 

5. Establish sewing under the room teacher's instruction in all 
fifth and sixth grades. Place the supervision of this work under 
the direction of the supervisor of home economics, increasing the 
pay of teachers who give this instruction to compensate them for the 
time which is spent in preparation for teaching and in attending 
meetings called by the supervisor of home economics. 

During the second year of the administration of this new plan 
centers can be opened, and by the third year the complete adjust- 
ment should have been accomplished. There are now two teachers 
employed to teach home economics in the white schools; when the 
work is reorganized there will need to be, during the first year, 
one supervisor, three regular teachers, and one special teacher for 
work among adult women and employed girls. The number will 
increase as the work develops in other centers and reaches down 
into the lower grades. It is not desirable that room teachers con- 
tinue to teach sewing after the first or second year. They can 
not be expected to desire this added burden ; nor may it be assumed 
that all will be in sympathy with the movement. 

When home economics has become well established and maintained 
in the schools of Columbia the life of the city will be enriched by 
many young women who, when assuming the responsibility of ad- 
ministering a home, will bring to their tasks an interest and an 
understanding of the obligations devolving upon them. They will 
not be in all ways expert, but they will have that intelligence in 
matters relating to their homes that will enable them to seek further 
enlightenment and to make use of the accumulated experiences of 
women as set forth in the better books treating of home economics. 

The time, too, when such courses are inaugurated will come when 
the school children of Columbia will exhibit a finer degree of 
physical well being, when merchants and tradesmen will recognize a 
more discriminating and appreciative purchasing public, and when 
the employer of woman labor will realize that his employee is a 
better employee because she is healthier and more capable of secur- 
ing the maximum of comfort from her use of the contents of her 
weekly pay envelope. Increased economic pressure will make satis- 
factory management and expenditures of home incomes more dif- 
ficult each year. Greater eificiency will be needed by woman. Many 
heretofore able to command the help of servants will be forced to 
perform the tasks of their own households and to multiply their own 



96 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

ability by the use of labor-saving devices. The maintenance of 
health will become more difficult as the density of population in- 
creases and as each household becomes more endangered by the con- 
ditions existing in near-by homes. For all of these contingencies 
must the young vroman of the present be made ready if Columbia 
is to continue to be a rich, contented, beautiful, and healthful city 
of homes. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Organize required courses in home economics and mechanical 
arts for all regular students in grades 5 to 9, inclusive, and for 
grade 4 in schools where many students are over age. 

2. Establish special vocational courses in connection with the 
Blossom Street School for all children over 14 years of age who will 
probably leave school without entering the eighth grade. 

3. Offer selective courses in home economics, agriculture, and 
manual arts to advanced high-school students. 

4. Maintain classes in home making for actual home makers and 
for employed girls and women. 

5. Adjust the problems used in the lessons to meet the social, finan- 
cial, or religious status of students. 

6. Have usable articles made in all sewing classes and family-sized 
recipes used in all classes above the sixth grade. 

7. Serve at school luncheons or teachers' lunches or sell the food 
which is cooked by the classes. 

8. Maintain a school lunch at the high school, the Blossom Street 
School, and when need arises at other schools in the city. 

9. Place the responsibility for the school lunch in the hands of the 
supervisor of home economics. 

10. Improve and enlarge the equipment and room space in the 
high school now given to home economics. 

11. Equip "centers" at certain grade buildings, but plan to have 
ultimately a full equipment in each school. 

12. In the Blossom Street School district equip a village house as 
a practice house for home-making instruction. 

13. Limit the number of students in classes and classify carefully. 

14. Require home economics of all negro girls of 11 years of age 
and above and make the courses intensely practical, seeking especially 
to establish standards that shall react beneficially upon the homes of 
the children. 

15. Suitable rooms in every negro school in which are to be found 
the seventh, eighth, or ninth grades should be provided and fully 
equipped. 

16. Establish a department of home economics, including all 
instruction in home-making subjects, in all schools. 



INSUFFIOIElSrT MAINTENANCE LIMITS ACTIVITIES. 97 

17. Employ one supervisor for all home economics teaching and 
an adequate, well-prepared, and well-paid teaching corps. 

18. Encourage study and advanced work among these teachers. 

19. Since all changes can not be made in one year, it is suggested 
that room teachers instruct the fifth and sixth grade children in 
sewing for the first year and the fifth-grade children during the sec- 
ond year, and by the third year have the home economics corps 
increased to a number sufficient to give all necessary instruction. 
The same arrangement should also be worked out for the mechanic 
arts. 

20. Because the expense of inaugurating all these changes must 
be considered, it is further suggested that needed improvements be 
first made at the high school and at the Blossom Street School, to 
be followed by improvements at the Logan and McMaster Schools 
and later at all the other schools of the city. 

76482—18 7 



v.— INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE HAS RENDERED THE 
SUPERVISION INADEQUATE. 



THE SUPERVISORIAL STAFF. 

In any enterprise where results depend upon collective effort, as 
in a public-school system, confusion, loss of time and of effort, and 
general wastage on all sides can be avoided only by a very careful 
coordination of the work of every individual in the corps. Efficiency 
can be obtained only through teamwork exercised in every part of 
the many-sided activities of the system. And teamwork can be 
secured in no other way than through the personal supervision of 
a leader or leaders who endeavor to unify the work of all in order 
that a definite aim may be reached or an adojDted plan carried into 
effect. In a school system the responsibility falls directly upon the 
superintendent and his corps of supervisors and assistants expressly 
selected for their ability as leaders and for their knowledge of details. 
In most cities the size of Columbia there is a supervisor of the pri- 
mary grades ; either a supervisor of intermediate grades or this work 
is done by the principals of the several schools; a supervisor of in- 
dustrial work for the system throughout; a supervisor of music 
throughout ; a supervisor of penmanship throughout ; one for draw- 
ing and art throughout ; and then heads of high-school departments, 
who are looked upon as responsible, in the high-school corps, for 
the planning and teaching of their respective subjects and whose 
ability and responsibility are recognized in the salary schedule. 

These supervisors, acting with the superintendent as their leader 
and with the principals in the several schools, constitute the super- 
visory body whose duty it is to lay out plans in discussion with the 
teachers, and through cooperating Avith the latter gradually bring 
about a well-knit together and thoroughly coordinated school system 
which shall increasingly secure higher standards of efficiency in their 
respective departments. 

In respect to such a supervisorial staff Columbia has been unfor- 
tunate, for it has been impossible for the board of education to pro- 
vide the necessary funds. A supervisor of all of the grades and a 
supervisor of music is as far as the board has gone in this important 
direction. So these two, with the superintendent, give the only su- 
pervision which the teachers obtain as the schools are now organized. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPEEVISION. 99 

It is clearly impossible for these three to provide the supervision 
which the system needs and which the preceding paragraph suggests. 
The burden of putting into execution the building program, cover- 
ing the past 12 years, has fallen upon the superintendent. He has 
studied most thoroughly the problem of the modern school building ; 
he has planned the structures, supervised the architects, and watched 
the progress of each building in every detail. Besides this, as secre- 
tary of the board, and its treasurer as well, he has verified every bill 
of expenditure and drawn every check which has been issued. He 
has handled all the correspondence involved and written all the 
letters which have been sent out. He has kept an itemized record of 
all receipts and of all expenditures reaching back over his period of 
incumbency, and the records are models of accuracy and clearness. 
All this mass of necessary detail he has attended to personally ; for 
not until three years ago was the board able to provide him with an 
office assistant. A heavy task has been his, and the tangible results 
expressed in modern buildings of excellent appearance are a tribute 
to his energy, good judgment, and painstaking effort. 

THE PRINCIPALS DO NOT SUPERVISE. 

Obviously, it has been impossible for the superintendent during 
this period of building activity to give his attention to the profes- 
sional side of the work of the schools except in the more general 
features. He has not had, the time personally to supply that coordi- 
nating leadership in the purely instructional and educational side of 
the school's activities which good teamwork in a modern school sys- 
tem requires. Ordinarily this need could be supplied to a degree, 
though not wholly, by holding the principals responsible in their 
several buildings for the quality of the teaching therein and expect- 
ing them to supply in their own teaching corps the leadership needed. 
But here, again, funds have been so inadequate that the principals of 
even the largest buildings have had to teach full time, consequently 
their work as supervisors has been limited to the care of the build- 
ing and grounds and to matters of disciplinary character. Very 
recently some relief has been provided, for the principals of the 
three largest elementary schools and the principal of the high school 
have been granted the following free time through the employment 
of substitute teachers for part time : 

Principal of the McMaster Scbool From 9 to 11.30 a. m. 

Principal of the Logan School Full time. 

Principal of the Taylor School From 9 to 11.30 a. m. 

Principal of the high school Full time. 

It should be added, however* that the rules and regulations of the 
board which define specifically the duties of principals have not yet 



100 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

been amended to give them any authority in their schools in matters 
of an instructional nature, so that as yet no use has been made of the 
principals in this connection. 

THE DUTIES OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SUPERVISOR. 

In practice, then, the only detailed supervision of professional 
character which the teachers are getting is that afforded by the 
elementary school supervisor and by the supervisor of music, vs^hose 
time is given to her subject alone. There are 71 teachers of ele- 
mentary grade in the white schools. Even though the supervisor 
should spend her entire time in schoolroom visitation, it is clear that 
she could give but a short period to each teacher at infrequent 
intervals only. As it is, however, in addition to her supervisorial 
duties, she has charge of issuing the supplies to the several schools. 
This, together with necessary office work, requires considerable time 
and attention — about one-fifth of her time, it is estimated — and les- 
sens by so much the all too limited opportunity she otherwise would 
have. Much can be and is being done toward unifying the work 
through the grade meetings which the supervisor holds (the sched- 
ule calls for a monthly meeting with each grade) and through the 
bimonthly progress reports which each teacher is required to make 
in written form. However, the suggestions brought out in the meet- 
ings and the proposals elicited by the reports should be closely and 
personally followed up in the several classrooms if coordinated re- 
sults of a high order are to be secured. As the matter now stands, 
the supervisor can spend but one day twice per month in each build- 
ing in this follow-up work. Obviously, during a single five-hour 
teaching session she can observe the work of but few individuals; 
so in the larger schools, as it works out practically, there are many 
teachers whom the supervisor visits infrequently and but for a few 
minutes at a time only. 

Other elements of serious consequence making for disintegration 
are the teachers who enter the department in numbers each year 
unfamiliar with the work of the system and the corps of substitute 
teachers, which is shifting and impermanent. 

The new teachers should be taken at the beginning of their period 
of service by the supervisor for special training and instruction in 
the important features of the system ; and then, for a time, at least, 
their work in the classroom should be very closely followed, in order 
that as quickly as possible they may be made able to contribute 
their part to good teamwork. In Columbia these new teachers have, 
to a degree, to find their places as best they can, for it is impossible 
for the one supervisor, try as hard as she may, to give them as much 
special attention as they need. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 101 

THE PROBLEM OF SU^BSTITUTE TEACHERS. 

A more serious problem than that of the " new " teacher, how- 
ever, is found in the character of the corps of teachers who are called 
on from time to time to substitute for those teachers who, for any 
reason, are kept away from their classes. In many instances the 
absence of the regular teacher is but for a day or two; again, in 
instances, it may be for a week or indeed for several weeks. Again, 
a given substitute may be needed one day in a first grade, the next 
day she may be sent to a sixth grade, and the third day to some 
other grade. Then, too, one day she is sent to teach a class perhaps 
notoriously difficult to interest and control, while the next day her 
lines may fall in a more pleasant place. Furthermore, in most 
instances the need is not known until just a few minutes before the 
day's session begins, scarce affording time, frequently, for the sub- 
stitute to reach the post assigned her. The consequence is that she 
has had no time to make that special preparation for the day's work 
which the regular teacher always makes if she is in earnest and 
which is doubly necessary for a substitute if she is to succeed in 
doing creditable work. 

Clearly, then, the most difficult position in the entire teaching 
corps of any city is that of the substitute teacher. She needs ver- 
satility, adaptability, intimate knowledge of the entire range of 
school work, poise, disciplinary ability, and all the other qualities 
of a good teacher to an even greater degree than that required of 
the regular teacher, who has the same group of children for a year 
or a term at least, and becomes familiar thereby with the idiosyn- 
crasies of each individual. In practice, most school systems employ 
as substitute teachers almost all who come along — green girls, broken- 
down old ladies, impecunious wives — anybody, in fact, who can be 
gotten hold of quickly when needed, and no questions are asked — 
not many, anyway. 

If sufficient remuneration is paid to make the work an induce- 
ment, usually a few people of ability can be gotten together who 
with sufficient training and close supervision can be brought to a 
point where at least it is better to assign them to a class than to 
dismiss the children, but a better plan is that now adopted in a few 
progressive and far-sighted systems. 

Recognizing that such work demands teaching skill of the highest 
order, the school boards select a few of the very best teachers of the 
regular corps, the number depending upon the size of the system, 
relieve them entirely of assignment to a given class and thereby se- 
cure a "flying corps" to be quickly shifted from point to point as 
the emergency arises. Such teachers, instead of being paid less than 
regular teachers, are paid considerably more in recognition of their 



102 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBL\, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

superior ability and the difficulty of the work. As they are em- 
ployed on full time, when no substituting is called for, thej are 
sent into various schools to give observation lessons for weak teachers 
or for teachers who are new to the work and need the help which 
the supervisors have no time to give. Again, they are assigned to 
a given grade for two or three days, giving the regular teacher a 
much-needed opportunity of visiting other classes in her own or in 
neighboring cities. Such teachers become in reality the teaching 
assistants of the supervisor, and in those cities which have tried 
the plan are considered indispensable adjuncts of the supervisorial 
staff. 

In Columbia, however, the funds are not sufficient to secure ade- 
quate supervision in any way. In consequence, one observes a lack 
of coordination of effort and of plan in the several schools of the 
system which seriously lessens the efficiency of the work as a whole. 

The result which comes from lack of proper coordination is well 
illustrated by the way the plan of pupil promotion operates; by 
the teaching activities of the classrooms; and by the achievement of 
the pupils as shown by certain standard educational measurement 
tests which were given. These three phases of the work are of suf- 
ficient consequence to justify a detailed discussion. 

1. THE PLAN OF PUPIL PROMOTION. 

The plan of promotion which was adopted when the school sys- 
tem of Columbia was organized in 1883 has been retained without 
essential change. As described in the superintendent's First Annual 
Report, the plan called for annual promotions, to be based on a five- 
days' written examination to be held during the week immediately 
preceding the last week of the school year, followed by a public oral 
examination on two days of the final week. In addition, bimonthly 
written examinations, on prescribed days, throughout the year were 
required of all grades above the second. The results of the monthly 
and yearly examinations were to be averaged separately, each count- 
ing half in determining the pupil's final score, which was registered 
on a scale of 100, with 65 designated as the passing average and 55 a 
minimum for any given subject. In 1913-14 came semiannual pro- 
motions throughout, and in 1915 promotion by subject was intro- 
duced in the high school. About the same time the report cards of 
the elementary grades were changed whereby grades in term of per 
cents were expressed as letters except in the high school, where the 
percentile system of scholarship grading is still employed. How- 
ever, as it was at the beginning, the essence of the plan is still the 
formal written examination at the end of each term, coupled with 
tests held at intervals throughout. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



103 



A summary of the results obtained under the operation of the 
plan, in respect to the promotion and failure of pupils in the element- 
ary grades for the term closing June, 1917, follows: 



P-romotions and -failures distriMited by grades and schools. White children, 
June, 1917. 

FIRST GRADE. 





Total 
nninber 
of pupils 
remaining 
to end of 

term. 


Promoted. 


Promoted on trial. 


Failed. 


Schools. 


Number. 


Percent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Logan School 


109 
69 
71 
28 
31 

33 


■ 67 
60 

20 
21 
35 

27 


61.5 
86.9 
77.4 
71.4 
67.7 

8L8 


17 
4 

8 
6 

18 


1.5.6 
5.7 
11.3 
21.4 
22.6 
30.5 
3.0 


25 
5 
S 
2 
3 
6 
5 


22.9 


McMaster 


7.3 




11.3 




7.2 


Waver ley 


9.7 


Blossom Street . . 


10.2 




15.2 






Total. 


400 


285 


71.2 


61 


15.3 


54 


13.5 







SECOND GRADE. 





140 
78 
72 
42 
27 
35 
43 


101 
55 
53 
31 
25 
22 
37 


72.2 
70.5 
73.6 
73.8 
92.6 
62.9 
86.0 


23 

16 

7 
2 
8 
4 


16.4 
20.5 

9.7 
16.6 

7.4 
22.9 

9.3 


16 

12 
4 

5 

2 








Taylor 


16 7 




9.6 




.0 






Qranby 


4.7 






Total 


437 


324 


74.2 


67 


15.3 


40 


10.5 







THIRD GRADE. 



Logan . 


109 
84 

45 
33 
42 
11 


90 
63 
61 
36 
21 
22 
10 


82.6 
75.0 
70.9 
80.0 
63.6 
52.4 
90.9 


10 
9 

20 
5 
8 
9 



9.2 
10.7 
23.3 
11.1 
24.2 
21.4 
.0 


9 
12 
5 
4 
4 
11 
1 


8 2 


McMaster 


14.3 






Shandon ... 


8.9 


Waverley 


12 2 




26.2 


Granby 


9.1 






Total . . 


410 


303 


73.9 


61 


14.9 


46 


11.2 







FOURTH GRADE. 



Logan . . 


157 
85 
74 
39 
34 
51 


131 

64 
57 

29 
38 


83.4 
75.3 
77.0 
71.8 
85.3 
74.5 


13 
12 
11 
9 
4 
6 


8.3 
14.1 
14.9 
23.0 
11.7 
11.8 


13 
9 
6 
2 
1 
7 


8.3 


McMaster 


10 6 


Taylor 


8 1 


Shandon . . . 


5 2 




3.0 










Total 


440 


347 


78.8 


55 


12.5 


38 


8 7 







FIFTH GRADE. 



Logan... 


74 


66 


89.3 


5 


6.7 


3 


4.0 


McMaster 


79 


67 


84.8 


11 


14.0 


1 


1.2 


Taylor 


75 


47 


62.6 


18 


24.0 


10 


13.4 


Shandon 


25 


20 


80.0 


1 


4.0 


4 


16.0 


Waverley 


11 


11 


100.0 





.0 





.0 


Blossom Street 


17 


■ 12 


70.6 


2 


11.7 


3 


17.7 






Total 


281 


223 


79.3 


37 


13.2 


21 


T.5 



104 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 



Promotions and failures distributed iy grades and schools. White children, 
June, 1917 — Continued. 

SIXTH GRADE. 





Total 
number 
of pupils 
remaining 
to end of 

term. 


Promoted. 


Promoted on trial. 


Failed. 


Schools. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Lofmn 


56 
67 
63 
25 
14 
7 


36 

47 
37 
23 
14 
7 


64.3 
70.1 
57.0 
92.0 
100.0 
100.0 


11 

13 






19.7 

19.4 

13.8 

.0 

.0 

.0 


9 

7 

19 
2 




16.0 


McMastor 


10.5 


Taylor. ... 


29.2 


Shandon 


8.0 


Waverlev 


.0 




.0 






Total. 


234 


164 


70.0 


33 


14.1 


37 


15.9 







SEVENTH GRADE. 





77 

29 
18 
26 


50 
43 
25 
13 
20 


64.9 
59.7 
86.2 
72.2 
77.0 


15 
21 


4 
4 


19.5 
29.1 
.0 
22.3 
15.3 


12 

8 
4 
1 
2 




McMaster . . 


11.2 


Taylor 


18.8 




5.5 




7.7 


Blossom Street 




















Total 


222 


151 


68 


44 


20.0 


27 


12.0 







Promotions and failures distributed by grades and schools. Negro children. June, 1917. 

FIRST GRADE. 





Total 
number 
of pupils. 


Promoted. 


Promoted on trial. 


Failed. 




Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Booker T. Washington 


248 
285 


207 
198 


83.4 
69.5 


7 
29 


2.9 
10.2 


34 

58 


13.7 


Howard 


20.3 






Total . 


533 


405 


75.9 


36 


6.8 


92 









SECOND GRADE. 



Booker T. Washington 


122 
122 


95 
97 


77.9 
79.6 


12 
4 


10.0 
3.3 


15 
21 


1'' 1 










Total ; 


244 


192 


78.7 


16 


6.5 


36 


14.8 







THIRD GRADE. 





81 
117 


02 

84 


76.5 
71.8 


3 
10 


3.7 

8.6 


16 

23 


19.8 


Howard 


19.6 






Total 


198 


146 


73.7 


13 


6.7 


39 


19 6 







FOURTH GRADE. 





76 
103 


59 
91 


77.6 

88.4 


3 

8 


3.9 

7.7 


■1 


18.5 


Howard 7. 


3.9 






Total 


179 


150 S."?. 9 


11 


6.1 


18 


10 











IKSUFPICIENT MAIKTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



105 



Promotions and -failures distributed by grades and schools. Negro children, 
June, 1917 — Continued. 

FIFTH GRADE. 





Total 
number 
of pupils. 


Promoted. 


Promoted on trial. 


Failed. 




Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 


Number. 


Per cent. 




43 

62 


33 
51 


76.7 
82.3 


1 
5 


2.4 
8.0 


9 
6 


20.9 




9.7 






Total. 


105 


84 


8a. 


6 


5.7 


15 


14.3 







SIXTH GRADE. 



Booker T. Washington. . . 


32 

66 


18 
58 


, 56.3 

88.0 


5 
3 


15.6 
4.5 


9 
5 


28.1 


Howard . . . 


7.5 






Total 


98 


76 


77.6 


8 


8.1 


14 


14.3 







SEVENTH GRADE. 





18 

54 


13 

50 


72.3 
92.6 


1 



5.5 



4 

4 


22.2 




7.4 






Total. . 


72 


63 


87.5 


1 


1.4 


8 


11.1 







NO tJNIFOEM PROMOTION BASIS IN EVIDENCE. 

The striking thing to be observed in these summaries of the pro- 
portion falling into the three groups, " Promoted," " Promoted on 
trial," and "Failed," is the complete lack of the evidence of any 
standardized basis of promotion and failure within the limits of 
a given grade considered for all schools or within all the grades of 
a single school. Some schools give a clear promotion to 87 per cent 
of their first-grade pupils, while others promote only 60 per cent; 
in second grades the promotions range from 62.9 per cent in the 
Blossom Street School to 92.6 per cent in the Waverley; in third 
grades the range of promotion is from 52.4 per cent in the Blossom 
Street School to 90 per cent in the Granby ; in the fourth grades the 
variation among schools is not so great, the range being from 71.8 
per cent in the Shandon to 85.3 per cent in the Waverley ; in the fifth 
grades the Taylor School promotes 62.6 per cent, while the Waverley 
promotes 100 per cent; in the sixth grades the range of variation is 
from 57 per cent in the Taylor to 100 per cent in both the Blossom 
Street and Waverley ; while in the seventh grades we find the lowest 
percentage of clear promotions to be at the McMaster, with 59.7 per 
cent, while the highest is at the Taylor, with 86.2 per cent. 

Again, taking the variations of standard within each school we 
find the same lack of uniformity. In the Logan School the range 
in clear promotions is from 61.5 per cent in the first grades to 89.3 
per cent in the fifth grades; in the McMaster the range is from 59.7 
per cent in the seventh grade to 86.9 per cent in the first grades ; in 



106 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

the Taylor it is from 57 per cent in the sixth grades to 86.2 per cent 
in the seventh; in the Shandon the lowest is 71.4 per cent in the first 
grade, and the highest 92 per cent in the sixth gi-ade; with the 
Waverley the third grade is the lowest, 63.6 per cent, while 100 per 
cent were promoted in both the fifth and sixth grades; the Blossom 
Street School promoted 52.4 per cent of the third grade and 100 per 
cent of the sixth grade ; while in the Granby School, the mill school 
where one would expect a large percentage of retardation in com- 
parison with other schools, the range of promotion was between 81.8 
per cent in the first grades and 90.9 per cent in the third grade. Were 
the records of individual classes taken instead of the grades as 
wholes the variations would have been even greater. 

In the negro schools the same lack of any apparent norm of pro- 
motion is observable. The lowest percentage of straight promotion 
is 56.3 per cent, in the sixth grade of the Booker T. Washington 
School, while the highest is 92.6 per cent, in the seventh grade of 
the Howard School. A good illustration of the lack of uniform 
standards of promotion is found in the percentage of failures in the 
fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades of these negro schools. In 
the fourth grade of the Booker T. Washington School failures were 
18.5 per cent of the pupils, while in the Howard School the failures 
in the same grade were but 3.9 per cent of those remaining to the end 
of the term. In the fifth grade the failures were 20.9 per cent in 
the one school and 9.7 per cent in the other. In the sixth grade the 
percentages are 28.1 and 7.5, respectively, while in the seventh grade 
22.2 per cent failed in the Booker T. Washington and but 7.4 per cent 
in the Howard. 

It must be remembered, moreover, that these percentages are based 
on the number of pupils who, having enrolled in the school, remained 
in attendance throughout the entire term. How many became dis- 
couraged with their work during the term and dropped out on that 
account is not known. That the total loss during the term, from 
whatever cause, was very heavy, nearly one-third of the enrollment, 
the following table, compiled from the records of the negro schools, 
will show : 

Loss in the negro schools during one term. 



Grades and schools. 


Total enrollment. 


Withdrawals. 




Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


loss. 


First grade: 

Booker T. Washington 


190 
200 

80 
94 

46 
63 


210 

187 

93 

103 

86 
95 


400 

173 
197 

132 
158 


74 
52 

27 
31 

20 
23 


78 
50 

24 
44 

31 
18 


152 
102 

51 
75 

51 
41 


38.0 


Second grade: 

Boo er T. Washington 

Howard. 


30.0 
38 


Third grade: 

Booker T. Washington 

Howard 


38.0 
26.0 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 
Loss in the negro schools during one term — Continued. 



107 



Grades and schools. 


Total enrollment. 


Withdrawals. 


Per cent 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


loss. 


Fourth grade: 

Booker T. Washington 


30 
50 

36 

14 
24 

8 
19 


79 

83 

37 

46 

26 
56 

19 

54 


109 
133 

59 

82 

40 
80 

27 
73 


11 
9 

6 
8 

4 
7 

2 


22 
21 

10 
12 

4 

7 

7 
11 


33 
30 

16 

20 

8 
14 

9 
19 


30.2 
22.5 


Filth grade: 

Booker T. "Washington 

Howard 


27.1 
24.4 


Sixth grade: 

Booker T. Washington 


20.0 


Seventh grade: 

Booker T. Washington 

Howard 


33.3 
26.1 


Total. 


876 


1,174 


2,050 


282 


339 


621 


30.3 







THE SITUATION IN THE HIGH SCHOOL. 

The lack of uniformity of grading, apparent in the elementary 
schools, is no less in evidence in the high schools, where the per- 
centage of failures runs higher than in the grades. A study of the 
marks given for the term ending June, 1917, to a cla3S of the first two 
years (eighth and ninth grades) of the high school and for the four 
subjects which most of the pupils were taking was made. There were 
so few pupils enrolled in the two upper years, and they were scattered 
among so many subjects, that it seemed unprofitable to carry" the 
study further, although, doubtless, the showing would have been 
better. The following table shows the proportion who " passed " 
and the proportion who " failed " in algebra, Latin, English, and 

history : 

Promotions and failures in four high-school subjects. 





Algebra. 


Latin. 


English. 


History. 


Classes. 


Total 
num- 
ber 
pupils. 


Total 
pro- 
moted. 


Per 

cent 
pro- 
moted. 


Total 
num- 
ber 
pupils. 


Total 
pro- 
moted. 


Per 
cent 
pro- 
moted. 


Total 
num- 
ber 
pupils. 


Total 
pro- 
moted. 


Per 

cent 
pro- 
moted. 


Total 
num- 
ber 
pupils. 


Total 
pro- 
moted. 


Per 

cent 
pro- 
moted. 


lAl . ... 


32 
29 


25 
24 


77.1 
82.8 


27 

28 


24 
24 


88.8 
85.7 


33 
28 
30 
34 
36 
31 
33 
32 
14 
26 
7 


21 

18 
20 
25 
30 
22 
24 
26 
10 
21 
7 


63.6 
64.3 

7315 
83.3 
70.9 

72.7 
81.2 
71.4 
80.7 
100.0 


30 
27 
30 
34 
36 
31 
33 
31 


22 
22 
3 
29 
32 
21 
24 
24 


73 3 


1A2 


81 5 


1A3 




IBl 


33 
35 


24 
27 


72.2 
77.1 


29 
32 


21 

28 


72.4 

87.5 


85.3 


1B2 




1B3 


70 


2A1 


33 

30 


20 
25 


60.6 


27 
26 


12 
17 


44.4 
65.4 


72.7 


2A2 


77.4 


2A3 




2B1 


24 


23 


95.8 


24 


15 


62.5 


27 


19 


70.4 


2B2 
























Total 

Medifin of 


216 


168 


77.7 
77.1 


193 


141 


73.0 
72.4 


304 


224 


73.6 
72.7 


279 


196 


70.2 























That is to say, in algebra the range of promotions among the 
classes considered as units was from 60.6 per cent in 2A1 to 95.8 per 
cent in 2B1, wdth a median of 77.1 per cent in 1B2. In Latin the 



108 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 



lowest percentage of promotion was 44.4 per cent in 2A1, and the 
highest 88.8 per cent in lAl, with a median of 72.4 per cent in IBl. 
In English the variation was between 63.6 per cent in the lAl to 
100 per cent in 2B2, with a median of 72.7 per cent in the 2A1. In 
history, in one class, the 1A3, only 10 per cent were promoted, while 
in the 1B2, 88.8 per cent were promoted. The median class was the 
lAl, with 73.3 per cent passing. 

If the preceding table be carelessly read, it might be inferred that 
from 70.2 per cent to 77.7 per cent of the pupils enrolled in the classes 
of the first two years of the high-school course are promoted without 
failure, but a moment's thought will make clear that that would be 
true only in the event that the same pupil fails in all four subjects. 
In fact, one pupil may fail in algebra and pass in the other subjects, 
and another pupil may fail in Latin, and so on. Another table, then, 
is needed to show just what the situation is as it relates to the indi- 
viduals of the classes and that is a table showing how many in each 
class failed in one or more subjects in comparison with the total class 
enrollment. This follows, the data for which were taken direct from 
the teachers' registers : 

Percentage of failures in four high-school subjects. 



Classes. 


Total 
number 
of pupils 
receiving 
marks in 
the four 
subjects. 


Number 
failing 
in one 
or more 
subjects. 


Percent- 

failtag 

in one 

or more 

subjects. 


Percent- 
age 
passing 
in all 
subjects. 




33 
29 
30 
34 
36 
31 
33 
32 
14 
27 


15 
12 
28 
16 
11 
12 
28 
17 
4 
14 


45.4 
41.4 
93.3 
47.0 
30.6 
38.7 
84.8 
53.1 

5118 




1A2 


58 6 


1A3 


6 7 


IBl 




1B2 




1B3 . . 


61 3 


2A1 




2A2. 




2A3 


71 5 


2B1 


48.2 






Total 


299 


157 


52.5 


47 5 







Of the total of 157 who failed in one or more subjects, 3 failed in 
all four; 19 failed in three each; 65 failed in two each; while the re- 
maining 70 failed in one of the four subjects. This discloses a 
startling situation, for the tabulation shows that more than half 
(52.5 per cent, to be exact) of those remaining throughout the term in 
the first two years of the high-school course are failing in one or more 
of their studies and this does not take into account those who became 
discouraged and quit. This is rendered still more serious hy the 
record in two of the classes, the 1A3 and the 2A1 (see the preced- 
ing table). In the first of these, a class comprising 16 boys and 14 
girls, all the girls failed in at least one subject, while only 2 of the 



INSUFFICIEISTT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



109 



boys escaped. That is to say, only 2 out of the total of 30 did work, 
sufficiently creditable to pass them in all four subjects. In the 2A1 
the situation is a little better, but not much. Thi^ class comprised 22 
boys and 11 girls who received marks at the end of the term. All 
failed in at least one subject except 1 girl and 4 boys. The girl 
missed failing in one of her subjects by one credit only; while had 
3 of the 4 boys had five credits less each, they, too, would have 
failed. There was just one pupil in the class whose term marks did 
not fall below TO in any one subject. 

In attempting to account for this surprising situation the explana- 
tion, doubtless, which first occurs to one as a possibility is that of 
irregularity of attendance. It stands to reason that a pupil who, 
for whatever reason, is absent a great deal from his recitations can 
not expect to fare as well in terms of school credits as one who is 
always in his place, and therefore who gets all the benefit of the 
course of instruction. Indeed,- it is clear that too great a degree of 
irregularity in attendance, varying with the individual pupil, will 
naturally end in a grade of work so poor in quality as to justify the 
teacher in asking him to repeat the course during the following term. 
In seeking a reason, then, for the undue proportion of failure in the 
high school, the facts regarding the attendance of those who failed 
were examined. The results of this study of the relation of failure to 
attendance are given in the table which follows : 

Relation of failures in algeltra, EnglisTi, history, and Latin to irregular at- 
tendance, high school, June, 1911. 





Number 
of pupUs 
receiving 
marks. 


Number 
failing 
in one 

or more 
of four 

subjects. 


Class 
average 

for 
pupils- 
days 
absent 
during 
term of 
88 days. 


Attendance record of those 
falling. 


Classes. 


Number 
having 
noab- 


Number 
having 
fewer 
than 
class 
average. 


Number 
having 
more 
than 
class 
average. 


lAl 


33 
29 
30 
34 

31 
33 
32 
14 

27 


15 
12 
28 
16 
11 
12 
28 
17 
4 
14 


6.2 
9.3 

8.5 
4.2 
5.5 
9.9 
6.5 
7.2 
5.6 
7.0 


1 

2 
4 
3 
4 
4 
8 
7 
1 
3 


10 
10 
11 
11 


4 


1A2 


3 


1A3 




IBl... 


3 


1B2 


5 


1B3 


4 


2A1 


9 


2A2 


2 


2A3 


2 


2B1 









Total 


299 


157 


6.9 


37 


85 


35 







These facts were come at in this way : The total number of days' 
attendance during the term for a given class was divided by the 
number in the class who remained in school throughout the term. 
This gave the average number of days attended by each member of 
the class. The difference between this average and 88, the number 



110 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

of days school was in session during the term ending June, 1917, 
was taken. This gave the average number of days each member of 
the class was absent;. (See table, column No. 3.) Then the attend- 
ance record of each pupil who failed was compared with the absence 
average for his class and the results distributed into three groups: 
(1) The number having no absences, (2) the number having fewer 
absences than the average for his class, (3) the number having more 
absences than the class average. The last three columns of the pre- 
ceding table show these distributions for the classes considered. 
The totals show that, of the 157 failures, 37 of them had no absences 
against them at all ; 122 had fewer absences than the average of their 
respective classes; while only 35, less than a fourth, had an absence 
record which exceeded that of the average of their several classes. 

Obviously, then, for 77.7 per cent of this group of failures, what- 
ever may be said of the remainder, their scholarship record can not be 
laid, justly, at the door of irregularity of attendance. The explana- 
tion must be sought elsewhere and can be found, it is believed, no 
where but in the lack of teamwork among the teachers leading to 
greater unanimity as to a reasonable standard to which pupils should 
be held and by which they are judged, for it is inconceivable, of 
course, that there is any such variation in the actual ability of the 
children of Columbia as is disclosed by the foregoing study of pro- 
motion records. 

THE INACCURACY OF TEACHEKS' MARKS. 

Children are pretty much the same the world over in respect to their 
reaction to school instruction. That is to say, the average of a group 
in one part of the country will measure up prett}^ close to the average 
of a group of the same age in any other part of the country. The 
variation comes, not among the children, but among the teachers, in 
their estimates of what the pupils have accomplished. A number of 
studies have been made during the last few years to determine the 
accuracy and reliability of the marks which teachers give to pupils. 
An interesting summary of several of these investigations is to be 
found in Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly : " Educational Test and Meas- 
urements." Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917. 

Carter,^ for example, in 1911, took the marks of the eighth-grade 
pupils who had entered high school from three elementary schools 
and compared them with the marks received in the high school. He 
reasoned that, if the marks were an accurate rating of the pupils' 
ability, in general the same relative position obtained in the elemen- 
tary schools would be maintained in the high school. He found, 
however, that there was a complete reversal from what one would 

1 Carter, R. E. Correlation of Elementary Schools and High Schools. In Elementary 
School Teacher, vol. 12, pp. 109-118. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. Ill 

expect, for the pupils coming in from the school which gave the low- 
est marks, outstripped the others in maintaining or increasing their 
original rank. 

Kelly ,^ in 1913, made a similar study of the marks of sixth-grade 
pupils coming into a common departmental school for seventh-grade 
work from four ward schools. To quote his conclusion : 

This means that for work which the teacher in school O (one of the ward 
schools) would give a mark of " G " (good) in language, penmanship, or history, 
the teacher in school D (another ward school) would give less than a mark of 
"F" (fair). 

Starch and Elliott,^ to mention but one other of many investiga- 
tions of the accuracy of teachers' markings, made a facsimile repro- 
duction of an examination paper handed in by a pupil in plane 
geometry and sent a copy to the teachers of geometry of all the high 
schools included in the North Central Association of Colleges and 
Secondary Schools, requesting that they mark the paper on a scale 
of 100 per cent. One hundred and sixteen teachers complied, with 
the following results: Two of the ratings were above 90; while one 
was below 30 ; 20 were 80 or above ; while 20 others were below 60 ; 47 
teachers gave a passing mark or above, while 69 teachers gave a mark 
which would have failed the writer of the paper. 

These and other investigations of similar character point inevitably 
to the conclusion that teachers' marks, as determined in most schools, 
are inaccurate and unreliable records of the performance, or ability, 
or accomplishment of pupils, and that the faith which both pupils 
and teachers have placed in traditional systems of marking is a blind, 
unreasoning one. Is a teacher rating merely the performance of a 
pupil in the particular examination set? Or does she take into ac- 
count the pupil's ability? Or again is it his accomplishment ex- 
tended over a period of considerable time that she is rating ? Others, 
again, may have in mind the pupil's effort. Still others may try to 
show the degree of improvement the pupil has made within a given 
period. The question : " What do we mark ? " was put by one super- 
intendent to his teachers,'' and the following were some of the an- 
swers he got : " Improvement," " ability," " serious purpose," " moral 
qualities," " interest in work," " accomplishment," " accuracy, neat- 
ness, and promptness," "acquisition of knowledge." Again, what 
Is the 100 per cent ideal which the teacher has in thought? What 
would the zero point represent on a percentile scale ? " Does 50 per 
cent," to quote a writer on school problems, " mean half knowing a 

iKeUy, F. J. Teachers' Marks. Teachers' College Contributions to Education, No. 
66, p. 7. 

2 Starch and Elliott. Reliability of Grading High-School Work. Sch. Rev., vols. 
20, 21. 

^ Camp, Frederick S. Marks : An administrative Problem. School Review, December, 
1917. 



112 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

lesson, knowing half a lesson, knowing half as much as the teacher 
{mows, half as much as the text, half what the pupil ought to know, 
or half what he could know?" The problem is not simprified be- 
cause letters, meaningless in themselves, are adopted to register a 
pupil's rank, for usually these are merely symbols into which the 
percentile scale is translated. 

The difficulty is at once apparent. The teacher has but a hazy and 
ill-defined theoretical standard of excellence in mind by which she 
judges as best she may the standing of her pupils. It is not an ac- 
curate basis of measurement, for the reason that it is shifting and 
variable in her own mind and, furthermore, because she is trying to 
use one standard by which to express a judgment on a number of 
qualities which she wishes to take into account. As the standard of 
one teacher will be different, naturally, from that held by another, 
as long as the marking system is as it is, no other result can be ex- 
pected than one in which there is a wide variation in expressed judg- 
ment. When, furthermore, there is a lack of coordination of work 
and of standards of judging the results, which invariably ensues if 
there be inadequate supervision, this variation in the percentage of 
()upils promoted in different classes will be greatly accentuated. The 
situation, then, in Columbia, bad as it is, in respect to lack of uni- 
formity of standard, is not unusual. It will always obtain so long 
as the present marking system is retained and so long as teachers are 
not more closely supervised. 

A PLAN BASED ON THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF ABILITY. 

The whole problem, however, would be greatly simplified were the 
teachers to discard the theoretical standard of excellence which they 
severally hold and frankly recognize that in relation to ability or 
effort or accomplishment, or, for that matter, any other quality they 
care to consider, their school class is a normal group of pupils, com- 
prising a few individuals of marked proficiency, many of average 
attainments, and a few who are mediocre. Or, putting the fact an- 
other way : In every group not artificially selected there is a normal 
distribution with respect to any trait or qualification. The majority 
of the class will be found clustering pretty closely about the average 
or mean position, while the further above or below this mean one 
goes, the fewer will be the individuals found. 

For example, many careful studies have shown that in any class 
there are a few who are excellent as compared with the remainder of 
the class; about twice as many are very good; 40 to 50 per cent are 
somewhere around the average ; about as many are poor as are good ; 
and about as many are very poor as are excellent. It is very difficult 
to measure the precise ability of a pupil; there is no known precise 
standard to use in measuring it, but it is not difficult for a teacher to 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



113 



pick out from 3 to 10 per cent of her class who are excellent and to 
place the others in four or five groups with respect to these. Fur- 
thermore, she does not need a week of formal examinations at the end 
of the term, coupled with mid-term examinations, to make such a 
distribution. In short, as Bennett ^ says, " We can not presume to 
state how much ability a pupil has nor how valuable his work has 
been, but we can state his relative standing in the class with reason- 
able accuracy." 

Finkelstein,^ in his study of marks given at Cornell University, 
recommends a five-division marking system based on the following 
distribution of the individuals of a given class : Three per cent, excel- 
lent ; 21 per cent, superior ; 45 per cent, medium ; 19 per cent, inferior ; 
12 per cent, very poor. Of this last group approximately 11 per cent 
should be conditioned and 1 per cent failed, he asserts. He holds 
that this distribution conforms to theoretical requirements and that it 
expresses fairly well the practice of Cornell University as shown by 
the tabulation of more than 20,000 marks extending over a period of 
three years and taken from 163 courses. His recommendations are 
made primarily for the high school and the university. 

Other investigators have reached somewhat different conclusions 
regarding the distribution. Some of these are : 



Cattell 

Smith 

Ruediger 

Meyer 

Foster 

Dearborn 

Gray 

Cajori 

Starch: 

Elementary 
Advanced . . 



Per cent. 
10 
10 
4 
4 



Per cent. 
20 
15 
24 
21 
22 
23 
20 
24 

39 

44 



Per cent. 
20 
15 
24 
18 
22 
23 
21 
24 



Per cent. 
10 
10 
4 
7 
3 
2 
7 
7 



These differences of opinion easily fall within the range of varia- 
tion which a system to be flexible should permit. Such a scale could 
be stated as follows: Of the total number of marks given, let the 
"A's " comprise from 3 to 10 per cent ; the " B's " from 15 to 22 per 
cent; the " C's " from 40 to 50 per cent ; the " D's " from 15 to 22 per 
cent ; and the " E's," or failures, from 2 to 10 per cent. A simple 
plan discussed by Bennett ^ which has worked satisfactorily is essen- 
tially of the same type as these, but with the proportions modified 
somewhat. It operates in this way: As early in the term as pos- 

1 Bennett, Henry E. School Efficiency. Ginn & Co., 1917. 

2 Finkelstein, I. B. The Marking System' in Theory and Practice. Worwick & Yoiit, 
Baltimore, 1913. 

76482°— 18 -8 



114 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

sible the teacher divides her pupils, not physically but for purposes 
of instruction, into four tentative groups; the first being the "best 
quarter " of the class ; the second consisting of the " second best quar- 
ter " : the third comprising all the others who have done work which 
will entitle them to be passed; and the fourth being those whose 
work is considered of a doubtful quality. These groups can be let- 
tered, for convenience of reference, "A," " B," " C," " D," or, for 
that matter, any other letters or symbols would do just as well. The 
special attention and effort of the teacher throughout the term should 
of course be devoted to those in group " D," in order that the num- 
ber therein who are finally required to repeat the term's work, desig- 
nated as " E,'' shall be as few as possible. And none should be 
failed, finally, without the sanction of principal and supervisor after 
careful review and consideration and with the question consciously 
in mind : Where will the pupil profit most, in the old grade or in the 
new? 

In practice, it should be observed, the teacher will occasionally 
find it necessary to deviate from the adopted norm of distribution. 
She should not hesitate to make such deviation if it seems to her 
to be necessary, but in every instance of failure to adhere she should 
be expected to make a full and satisfactory explanation to super- 
visor or superintendent. 

Such plans as the foregoing are based upon two assumptions: 
That the work of a given grade and the standards demanded therein 
shall be so shaped that the large majority of the class shall at all 
times be doing successful work; also, that in every class the normal 
distribution of abilitj^ is approximately the same. Neither of these 
assumptions can be seriously questioned, we feel. Furthermore, 
the adoption of some such plan as this would make impossible such 
wide variations in standards of promotions as are to be found among 
the teachers of the schools of Columbia, for in each instance, under 
its operation, it is clear the class itself would virtually determine 
its own standard by which the individual members shall be judged 
in respect to promotion. Such a proniotion basis as this would do 
away, too, with the necessity of spending so much of the all-too- 
limited time of the school on formal examinations and in grading 
the papers and recording and averaging the results. 

THE PLACE OF FOKMAL EXAMINATIONS. 

Written examinations given in the form of tests at intervals dur- 
ing the term have a place in school procedure for which it is impos- 
sible to find a complete substitute, but as a basis for determining a 
pupil's fitness for promotion the formal examination held at stated 
times has fallen into disrepute. It is a useful means, for example, 
of showing the teacher where the preparation has been weak and 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 115 

where it has been strong; it trains the pupil to use language con- 
cisely and with precision, under sharply drawn limits of time; it 
requires the quick exercise of judgment in respect to what is essential 
and what is relatively less essential ; and it tests the ability quickly to 
organize knowledge and information in a new setting. But, in gen- 
eral, when promotion is made to turn upon it, in whole or in any 
considerable degree, the examination inevitably leads to " cramming," 
to undue worry and nervousness, and to working with the sole end 
in view of passing, causing the entire work of the school to center 
about the one idea. It puts a premium upon wrong methods, and 
stresses what should be but a mere incident in the plan of education ; 
it provokes bitterness and unseemly strife between parents and 
teachers; and it occasions a vast amount of unnecessary and un- 
profitable labor for the teacher in reading an endless number of 
papers, in keeping records, and in making out reports. 

That the formal examination is no criterion for determining 
ability is a conclusion abundantly supported by an examination of 
the school careers of men who have become famous. For example, 
Thomas A. Edison never could pass his school examinations, and 
when his teacher reported that it was a waste of time for him to 
attend school he was taken out and never returned. Charles W. 
Eliot, while president of Harvard University, once remarked that 
he would not have been able to pass the entrance examinations of his 
own university. Henry Ward Beecher stood sixty-fourth in an ex- 
amination in grammar, while the boy who ranked first became a 
barber in a southern citj^ It is related that a Japanese university 
once appointed a faculty committee to investigate and report upon 
the question as to what examination could be given the youth of tliat 
land in order that young men of the greatest promise for the future 
might be selected. After an exhaustive study of the biographies of 
eminent men the report submitted was : " The one most prevalent 
characteristic of men of mark in their school days is that they could 
not pass their examinations." McAnclrews,^ who mentions these in- 
stances, among other illustrations, reports that he once took the ex- 
amination records of 90 pupils entering a private high school, and 
divided them into 10 groups according to rank. At the end of each 
year for a period of years he reclassified them into the same groups 
and expressed the progressive standing of each pupil by a diagram 
consisting of lines which theoretically should have run in nearly a 
straight line across the page. Actually, however, the lines crossed 
and recrossed as lowest-group pupils rose to the highest group and 
the highest fell into medium or low places. 

The school administrators and teachers of Columbia will do well 
to investigate thoroughly the basis of pupil promotion; to read the 

1 McAndrews. Our Old Friend, The Examination. Nat. Edue. Assoc, 1916, p. 527. 



116 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH OABOLINA. 

extensive literature of the discussion which has now been on for 
several years; and to examine the plans which are being adopted in 
Other cities. Out of such critical examination will come a revision 
of their own plan which will eliminate the objectionable features 
now much in evidence and which unwittingly work injustice to many 
children. 

2. THE TEACHING ACTIVITIES OF THE CLASSROOM. 
THE NEED FOE COOBDINATED EFFORT. 

Coordinated effort by the teachers of a system, which is one of 
the tangible results of constructive and helpful supervision of ade- 
quate extent, is by no means to be confused with uniformity in 
detailed practice. Within the field of education uniformity of spe- 
cial method, uniformity of schedule, uniformity of procedure, be- 
yond that which has to do with making certain responses automatic, 
is to be condemned. Efficiency in a corps of teachers and efficiency 
in a corps of bricklayers are to be obtained in ways and by methods 
which are fundamentally different. The latter demands uniformity 
of aim and uniformity of method, reaching even to machine-like 
uniformity of movement, if the highest efficiency is to be attained; 
the former demands unity of purpose and of defined aim, but diver- 
sity and variety of method. While supervision in education then 
should seek to establish a clear-cut program of work in general, 
there should be the utmost freedom given the individual in the 
devices which he employs in accomplishing his part of the assigned 
task. Without such clearly defined purpose set up for the corps as 
a whole, practice will be haphazard, chaotic, decentralized, and hence 
ineffective, however excellent may be the work of individual teachers. 

Oh the other hand, effort arbitrarily and artificially exercised to 
make uniform the practice of the members in dealing with the 
minutiae of schoolroom procedure will inevitably place upon a system 
a weight so deadening as to inhibit the exercise of that spontaneity 
and personal initiative so vital to teaching work of the first order. 
There are two dangers then which supervisors must avoid: Insist- 
ing upon uniformity of special method and not insisting upon unity 
of aim and of general method. The first of these, which results from 
a too mechanical system of supervision or because of a lack of interest 
and of initiative in the teaching corps, tends to produce a rigid, 
dry-as-dust, devitalized system. The latter danger arising either 
from a lack of vision and of discernment on the part of supervisors, 
or more frequently perhaps from a lack of sufficient supervision, if 
fallen into, brings about a condition similar to that wherein a team 
of horses are straining in opposing directions — effort is neutralized 
and rendered ineffective. 



INSUFPICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 117 

In respect to these two instructional and administrative dangers 
the system of Columbia has more fear from the latter, though it 
should be pointed out the first horn of the dilemma has not been 
altogether avoided. 

Eequiring that all classroom schedules within a given grade shall 
be uniform throughout the system ; that pupils of high-school age 
shall march in and out of the building and from room to room, as do 
children of the primary grades; that high-school teachers shall 
employ the demerit system of marking deportment, one credit off 
for talking, one for minor misdemeanors, three for insolent rejoinders 
to teachers, and so on ; promotion determined throughout by exami- 
nation; and the putting of certain classes in a school on half time 
because the corresponding grades of another school are crowded 
and are obliged to go on half time, to the end that all may advance 
at the same rate, are some of the ways by which a system is formal- 
ized and made rigid and mechanical. Operating too, in the same 
direction and in a powerful way are the factors of an academic 
course of study and a great deficiency in school equipment needed 
to supplement the course and to enrich and vitalize the work. With 
a narrowly academic course of study and without supplementary 
aids teachers are unavoidably thrown back upon a complete depend- 
ence upon the prescribed textbooks, which in time tends to make 
teaching dry and formal and mechanical. 

That the fear that such influences are at work in the Columbia 
schools tending toward a static condition is not groundless is shown 
by the fact that the survey committee was unable to find evidence 
that individual teachers, with too few exceptions, were trying out 
any new departures in their work ; neither could the committee find 
that schools as wholes were striking out on distinctive lines of in- 
terest, although the question was put to many teachers and princi- 
pals. A system that is growing will be changing; will be on the 
qui vive for suggestions ; will be trying new things both individually 
and collectively; will be discarding outworn practices and substi- 
tuting new ones; in short, will be showing the external manifesta- 
tions of internal life. The committee was not able to escape the 
conclusion that the Columbia system, due in considerable part surely 
to lack of adequate maintenance and the benumbing effect which 
poverty produces, is now resting to a disquieting degree under an 
incubus which begets inertia. 

Examples of the second danger, the danger of disintegrated and 
disunited effort in carrying into schoolroom effect defined peda- 
gogical purpose, are likewise in evidence. Perhaps the first illus- 
tration to be cited is that not all of the teachers recognize the truth 
of what a few individuals are practicing, that a vital distinction 
exists between teaching to establish habits and teaching which is 



118 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

intended to arouse emotions, to appeal to the feelings, to meet stand- 
ards of conduct. 

THE TWOFOLD TASK OF THE SCHOOL. 

Upon the school society has placed a twofold task — that of estab- 
lishing certain necessary habits and that of transmitting a body of 
useful relations. That is to say, in every subject studied in the 
schoolroom there are some things which, because of their intrinsic 
value, need to be known so well that correct responses become auto- 
matic. The multiplication table in arithmetic, some locative facts 
in geogi-aphy, a few dates and names in history, certain correct usages 
of language, legibility and rapidity in the use of the pen, the correct 
spelling of certain words are illustrations of facts and habits which 
need to be so well established that they become automatic, making 
certain that correct responses come instantly without the necessity 
of the exercise of thought. It is a legitimate and necessary task of 
the school to see to it that this formal side of the education of the 
youth be secured. On the other hand, the larger task, though no more 
important one, is to transmit that body of relations among facts 
which the social group has found to be essential. This fundamental 
distinction between the formal content of education and that which 
has to do with relations, with generalizations, with principles, sug- 
gests at once a fundamental distinction in the methodology of the 
schoolroom. That is to say, experience and reflection have shown 
that certain types of teaching methods are effective in the field of 
the formal, whereas certain other methods of procedure are best in 
the field of the " cultural," as the second is frequently called. In 
the one case the object is to establish habits, to make the use of facts 
automatic; in the other case the purpose is to arouse thought proc- 
esses, to direct them along recognized lines, to discover thereby cer- 
tain valuable relationships. The method best adapted to accomplish 
the first task is drill; that which has been found most effective in 
the second is the method of organized oral discussion. In the field 
of the automatic " thinking " is a mistake ; in the field of the cultural 
to get relations by process of memory and drill and to avoid the full 
processes of thinking are likewise mistaken pedagogy. 

Older education emphasized the former field, newer education the 
latter. Correct education will recognize the value of both, will care- 
fully include in its course only the essentials of each, and will insist 
that each of these two tasks be done effectively by the general methods 
operative in the respective fields. The older schools carried drill 
to an absurd extreme; the newer schools, in the reaction away from 
excessive drill, went to the other extreme and declared that the neces- 
sary facts and habits could be gotten incidentally. We now know 
that the things which are left to incidental treatment are not gotten 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 119 

at all and that the older schools were partly right and that the 
newer schools were only partly right. Best recent practice recognizes 
that the school has a twofold task and that the methodology of 
accomplishing the one is not applicable in getting results in the 
other. 

CONFUSION IN METHODOLOGY. 

Some teachers in Colmnbia, when a child can not tell promptly 
what the sum of 7 and 5 is, tell him to " think." So the child uses 
his fingers as an abacus and thus " thinks " out his answer. The 
fact, however, that the child can not recall instantly the sum of 
7 and 5 and that he has to " think " about it is clear evidence that the 
teacher has not been successful in her work, in this particular at least, 
for her methods should have made it unnecessary for the child to 
do any " thinking " about it. Indeed, within the field of the formal, 
" thinking " is out of place for the very purpose of making things 
automatic and habitual is to get rid of the necessity for thinking. 
On the other hand, many teachers of Columbia are holding the 
children responsible for the list of relationships among facts which 
the several textbooks set forth without sufficient (in some instances 
without any) class discussion participated in by all to make the gen- 
eralizations by the several authors mean anything beyond dogmatic, 
statements. The failure of many of the teachers of Columbia to 
recognize that there is this fundamental distinction to be drawn in 
both the content and method of the several subjects of the curriculum 
accounts for much poor teaching. There are teachers in the depart- 
ment, however, who, it should be stated, do differentiate between the 
formal and cultural subjects in this matter. The work of these stand 
out in the corps, but until the corps as a whole recognizes this dis- 
tinction and seeks to employ it in practice there will not be that good 
team work which ought to be the desideratum of all supervision and 
which is based in considerable measure upon unity in aim and in 
general method. 

THE NEED OF ENEICHING MATERIAL. 

Doubtless one reason why not more oral class discussion of 
lively character was found either in the elementary schools or In 
the classes of high-school rank, though there were notable exceptions 
in both, is due to the pitiable lack of supplemental help, such as 
books, charts, maps, and illustrative material of various kinds which 
the modern school finds indispensable. 

Without such enriching material, the teacher is forced to depend 
entirely upon the textbooks which the pupils purchase. Now, a 
textbook because of its space limitations can be little more than an 
outline or a compendium of generalizations which its author has 



120 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

compiled. The mere memorization of these generalizations is of no 
educational value. The value comes in wisely guiding the child 
along the path the author took in reaching his generalizations and in 
showing the child some of the rich and interesting detail which the 
author had before him when he was occupied in writing his text. By 
having such concrete detail at hand and through the rough-and- 
tumble of an interested group discussion wherein the children them- 
selves constantly raise the questions which their interest prompts, 
the wise teacher can make the abstract principles and formal state- 
ments of the text mean something. Such work is genuine teaching, 
and its value is high, for thereby the child can be taught to attack 
a problem; how and where to secure data necessary to the forming 
of valid conclusions; how to compare and contrast statements; how 
to distinguish between the author's major point, his minor points, 
and the material which he employs to illustrate each; in short, 
thereby he can be taught how to study and not only how to study 
while he is yet in school but how to study for himself after he leaves 
school and begins his life work. 

A library of books, then, which correlate with the subjects studied 
in the schoolroom should be accessible to every child in Columbia. 
Much of the work of each child should be that of delving into the 
rich material which can be assembled to seek out facts pertaining to 
the subject in hand, bringing these into the classroom and pooling 
them with similar contributions by the other members. In the doing 
of this the pupil will become familiar with library methods, with 
card catalogues, with ways of finding material in the magazine files, 
with various encyclopaedias and dictionaries, and how to make use of 
tables of contents and indexes. By so doing not only is the child 
himself to a degree drawing his own generalizations from out the 
body of concrete detail which lies at hand (infinitely more valuable 
than memorizing an author's conclusions), but he is learning how, 
while he is yet in school, to employ the methods he must use when 
he gets out of school if he is ever to accomplish anything as a student. 

In respect to such fund of accessible material, the pupils in the 
schools of Columbia are woefully handicapped ; far more so, in fact, 
than are children who attend country schools in many of the isolated 
places of this country. The public library is not of much help, for 
except for the rent and the small amount received by the librarian as 
salary, all support is by voluntary contribution, which is always in- 
termittent and inadequate. The few books which are in the high- 
school library are kept locked up, because no way has yet been worked 
out for preventing loss when the children are given access to them; 
only beginnings of libraries have been started in the elementary 
schools by parent-teachers' associations, while the board of education 
is too hard pressed for f und^ in other directions to do much in the 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 121 

building up of such vital equipment. In instances in the high school 
and in certain classrooms in the grades individual teachers, out of 
their own salaries, have purchased material of this character. A 
difference in the effectiveness of the work of such, as compared with 
those lacking such vitalizing and. enriching material, is easily dis- 
cernible. 

HIGH SCHOOLS NEED WELL-EQUIPPED UEBAEY BOOMS. 

The teaching activities of a high school, in particular, should be 
made to center about the library, for in no other way can the peda- 
gogical error be avoided of attempting to teach subjects instead of 
teaching how to study subjects. It is clear that in the limited time 
of a high-school course, and with immature pupils who comprise the 
student personnel, no relatively complete mastery of any subject can 
be obtained. But a trail through the woods of each subject in the 
courses offered can be blazed, and the pupils can be taught how to 
use the tools which are indispensable to such work. Owing to the 
complete lack of books and of library facilities, the high-school 
teachers of Columbia are attempting only to teach the subjects as- 
signed; in consequence, the pupils are not learning anything at all 
about how to go about independent study. Learning how to use a 
library — that is, learning how to use the tools of study— should be 
begun well down in the grades and continued throughout the entire 
school course. At present Columbia is financially interested in pro- 
viding library facilities for her citizens only to the extent of $65 per 
month — $30 for rent of the library rooms, $35 for the librarian's 
salary, and nothing for books. A project for a Carnegie library was 
turned down, because it was thought Columbia could not afford to 
keep up the running expenses required. If pupils go through the ele- 
mentary and high schools as they are now doing, without gaining 
any first-hand acquaintanceship with library methods, nor any ap- 
preciation of the need or value of books in pursuing their studies, it 
is difficult to see how, when they graduate and settle down in the 
community as citizens, they will be any more interested in securing 
better library facilities provided for at public expense than is the 
present citizenship of Columbia. The schools will not have done their 
rightful duty in the matter unless through the practical work of the 
classroom a demand for books is created so insistent a^ to lead to 
action. 

A room convenient to the study hall of the high school should be 
set apart as a library room; the manual training department could 
equip it with tables, book racks, and filing cases for pictures and 
clippings; a teacher trained in library methods should be placed in 
charge; and a sufficient amount should be provided in the yearly 
budget to enable a good working aggregation of books adapted to the 



122 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 

work of the classes to be quickly assembled. The invigorating in- 
fluence of such an arrangement Avould be felt at once. 

A working basis for such an allowance is suggested by Chancellor,^ 
who has made a special study of the problems of school administra- 
tion. His estimate of what a school department should do in this 
connection, together with his comment thereon, follows: 

ESTIMATE OF A YEARLY ALLOWANCE FOE BOOKS AND SUPPLIES. 

As with a household of highly educated people, so with a school, the tendency 
is steadily to increase the demand for funds to meet increasing needs. To 
desire things and services is to live in civilization. The following standard of 
allowances for books, general supplies, manual training, etc., is a reasonable 
minimum where a community means to have good schools. With experience, 
much larger sums can be well spent, and education will be correspondingly 
improved. 

Hir/h school. 

Books (per pupil) $4.00 

Manual training 10. GO 

For science apparatus annually per class of 24 pupils 250. 00 

For reference books per class of 24 pupils 50. 00 

Stationery -_ 1.00 

Incidentals 1. 00 

Eleiiieiitdry schools. 

Grammar grades : 

Books (per pupil) $2.00 

Manual training 4. 00 

Stationery .75 

Incidentals .50 

Primary grades : 

Books (per pupil) .$L 00 

Manual training 2. 00 

Stationery .50 

Incidentals . .25 

Kindergarten : 

All supplies (per pupil) 1.00 

General. 

For reference books per class of 42 pupils 20. 00 

For library (class) per class 25.00 

Evening school. 

All books and supplies per class of 24 pupils, excepting science and 

manual training 50. 00 

For evening lectures, ,$10 to $25 may be allowed for the lecturer, $5 to $10 

for his expenses (average), and $5 for lantern operator. In a public lecture 

course, most of the lectures should be illustrated. 

1 Chancellor, W. E. Our Schools, Their Administration and Supervision. (1909), p. 383. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERV1SI0:N\ 123 

The foregoing allowances do not include tHe stereopticon lantern and slides 
for every school, and at least t^YO pianos in every elementary school, one for 
the assembly room and one for the kindergarten. 

THE METHOD OF OKGANIZED ORAI, DISCUSSION. 

The general method of organized oral discussion based upon the 
pupils' access to interesting and pertinent material is a procedure, 
however, that can not be employed without some care, for, unless 
carefully guarded against, discursiveness in discussions will ensue 
and no tangible precipitate will result. To secure satisfactory re- 
sults, the reading and discussion must proceed systematically and 
orderly. The teacher must make the material used subservient to 
her own plan and scheme of lessons and not be led by it; and in 
conducting the recitation she must guide the discussion, otherwise it 
will drift into aimless, desultory, fruitless conversations. This de- 
mands that the teacher devote considerable time to preparation, 
for if she herself has first worked over the material accessible to the 
children she can better determine what direction it will be best to 
give the discussion and what contribution she can properly expect 
from the pupils. In the presentation there are certain facts which 
are important apart from their bearing in the development of a 
given generalization. These intrinsically valuable facts should be 
gotten up at the close of the series of lessons, preserved in notebooks, 
and be made the subject of brief reviews and drills from time to time 
to insure permanency of retention. Unless this is done, it will be 
found that confusion of mind will ensue and that valuable results 
will have been lost. 

Such work has for its purpose, primarily, the discovery of general 
knowledge, during the progress of which the teacher guides her 
pupils through their study of objects, examples, concrete details 
to certain generalizations which, taken together, constitute the prin- 
ciples of the given subject. In themselves and of themselves par- 
ticular ideas or specific facts have little meaning or significance. The 
value lies in the meanings, explanations, relationships which can 
be detected, and which, in turn, can be employed to interpret other 
facts and determine other activities. 

THE FIVE FORMAL STEPS OF THE HERBABTIANS. 

Such work, if consistently carried out, is both inductive and 
deductive in nature, the essential stages of which comprehend the 
five formal steps of instruction formulated by the Herbartians: 1, 
Preparation; 2, presentation; 3, comparison; 4, generalization; 5, 
application ; or, putting it another way, there should be, first of all, 
a clear statement of the problem in relation to essential details and 
significant facts; then, by comparison and contrast of individual 



124 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

facts, a hypothesis or tentative generalization is reached, which, 
through application to a fresh set of facts, by way of interpretation 
and of reviewing the ground already gone over, is tested out. Hux- 
ley,^ in discussing the steps through which the mind moves in the 
acquisition of general truths, is in essential agreement with the 
Herbartians, as McMurry ^ points out. Huxley's statement is : 

The subject matter of biological science is different from that of other 
sciences, but the methods of all are identical. 
And their methods are: 

1. Observation of facts, including under this head that artificial observation 
which is called experiment. 

2. That process of tying up similar facts into bundles, ticketed and ready 
for use, which is called comparison and classification, the results of the process, 
the ticketed bundles, being named general propositions. 

3. Deduction, which takes us from the general proposition to facts gained— 
teaches us, if I may say so, to anticipate from the ticket what is inside the 
bundle. And, finally — 

4. Verification, which is the process of ascertaining whether, in point of 
fact, our anticipation is a correct one. 

Such are the methods of all science whatsoever. 

While good teaching practice does not demand that these steps 
be formally segregated and rigidly followed, for such procedure 
tends to formalize instruction and make it mechanical, nevertheless 
good results require that this round of steps or stages in instruction 
be not seriously invaded, though, it should be added, such complete 
round should not necessarily be effected within the short space of 
a single recitation period, for a given lesson unit may properly 
require a number of recitation periods for its presentation. 

THK FUNCTION OF THE TEXTBOOK. 

It must not be overlooked, in work of this character, however, 
that the proper function of the textbook is to supply the pupils' 
need for a handy reference book, on the one hand, and, on the other, 
to meet the need of the teacher for a succinct statement or outline 
of the essential principles and general notions of the subject under 
consideration. The content of school subjects, it must not be for- 
gotten, first of all exists outside the covers of the text; neither is it, 
in its original state, broken up into subjects and set forth in logical 
sequence and systematic arrangement. This is a device of peda- 
gogues and bookmakers for convenience of instruction. The pro- 
cedure has value, but when the subject matter of education is 
disassociated from the activities and processes of the world which 
created it ; when it is divided up into compartments called "subjects" ; 
and when each is hydraulically compressed between the covers of a 
two or three hundred page text and taken into the schoolroom, there 

1 Huxley. Lay Sermons, p. 83. 

* McMurry. The Method of the Eecitation, p. 290. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 125 

is a strong tendency for the teacher to go about her teaching as 
though the textbook comprised the whole of education; as though 
its contents were wholly dissociated from the life going on all about; 
as though she looked upon it merely as something to be memorized, 
recited, examined, and then cast aside and forgotten. 

EDUCATION IS EEMAKING AND EXTENDING EXPERIENCE.* 

Education is coming now to be looked upon as that process by 
which we remake and extend our experience and in the process 
acquire that body of habits and of knowledge which freedom and 
effectiveness in the- social group demand. The ideal way of secur- 
ing such education is by actual personal contact with the essential 
realities of life, very much as the race has gotten its education. But 
this is found, in its extreme form, to be impracticable; it takes too 
much time for one thing; then, life as it runs deals with detail, and 
detail without order or arrangement. To short-cut the educational 
period through which the race has gone we must group and classify 
details and integrate them, pointing out their essential relationships 
and the rules and principles which govern them. But one's own 
experience can be remade and extended only as such activity deals 
with the realities in some individual, personal, and truly vital way. 
Hence, the teacher at every opportunity should break away from 
reliance upon the text and take advantage of every chance to bring 
her children into direct contact with the processes and activities 
themselves. An important step in this direction, where the experi- 
ence with the thing itself is not possible, is to get a variety of books 
dealing with concrete detail in a vivid and interesting way; organ- 
ize this material about essential, integrating, and unifying prin- 
ciples; meanwhile connecting the whole up with the child's old 
experience in an effective way. In this manner errors are cor- 
rected; limited and meager conceptions are enriched and made 
pregnant with meaning; and new associations among the various 
elements are established; thus experience is worked over and added 
to and readjusted, which is education. Limiting a pupil's time and 
thought to the summary or the contents of a subject which the 
author of a given text sets forth, however valuable the text may 
be as an outline, will never create experience, neither will it con- 
tribute, except slowly and in meager degree, to his education. 

Obviously, then, in the teaching of any subject or of any topic a 
basis in experience is indispensable, for there can be no remaking of 
experience if experience be lacking. The teacher, therefore, who 
takes up ideas for which there is no foundation in the pupil's ex- 
perience will cause a break in the educational process which will lead 

1 Barhart, Lida B. Types of Teaching. 



126 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

to confused attempts to understand, resulting finally in mere memori- 
zation, it the pupil be working under the spur of a prospective exami- 
nation. So, also, will the educational process be broken if the teacher 
does the major part of the work herself, as many do, for thereby she 
and not the child will be gaining the experience and hence the edu- 
cation. Verbatim reproductions; rote recitations; unorganized and 
detached reading, observation, experiment, or investigation; the as- 
signment of lessons by pages rather than by topics; the viewing of 
the textbook as the source rather than as an outline of subject matter : 
the failure to recognize that both particular facts and general truths 
have differing values; too much attention to the machinery of edu- 
cation and not enough to its spirit; the insistence on a standard of 
thoroughness so high as to become deadening in its effect ; the lack on 
the part of the teacher of a mastery of the subject matter under dis- 
cussion and of a clear organization of its content in her own mind: 
and the failure to follow up her work with cumulative reviews of a 
few important matters to be kept clearly in mind are among the 
chief pedagogical sins which interfere with the process by which the 
child remakes and extends his own experience. 

WHAT SUPERVISION SHOULD ACCOMPLISH. 

Good supervision, by setting forth in clear light the basic princi- 
ples. underlying teaching practice, by defining the criteria by which 
both the method and the result are to be judged, Avill thereby take a 
long step forward in eliminating from the corps such mistaken prac- 
tices as the foregoing; for by so doing, the teachers will be given 
definite standards by which to square their own efforts. Good super- 
vision, in addition, Avill, in kindly fashion, point out to the individ- 
uals wherein their special methods and particular practices fall short 
of the ideal which has been defined for the corps. Good supervision, 
too, will not fail in commending those instances wherein the pro- 
cedure is of the character required ; for it must not be forgotten that 
it is good work which should be sought, rather than bad work, and 
that with most people a single word of commendation, where com- 
mendation can honestly be made, far outweights 50 spoken in a fault- 
finding spirit. The words of Roger Ascham, the famous English 
schoolmaster of the sixteenth century, are quite as true of teachers 
and of teaching as they are of children, of whom he wrote, apropos 
of the study of Latin : 

Where the childe doth well, either in chosing, or true placing of wordes," let 
the master praise him, and saie, " here do ye well ! " For I assure you, there is 
no such whetstone, to sharpen a good witte and encourage a will to learninge, 
as is praise. But if the childe misse. either in forgetting a worde, or in chang- 
ing a good with a worse, or misordering the sentence, I would not have the 
master either frowne or chide with him, if the childe have done his diligence, 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 127 

and used no trewandship (truantship) therein. For I know by good experience 
that a childe shall take more profit of two fautes (faults) kentlie (gently) 
warned of, than of foure things, rightly hitt." ^ 

THE WASTAGE OF TIME. 

Inadequate coordination of the efforts of the Columbia corps again 
expresses itself in the frittering away of a tremendous amount of 
time, in the aggregate, by the children in the schools. Many of the 
teachers have their work so well planned that at every minute of the 
day they know exactly Avhat they are going to do next. In conse- 
quence, they never lose any time in turning from one thing to 
another; there are no ragged or frayed edges to their work; every- 
thing is crisp and clear cut; and both the teacher's and the pupils' 
time is utilized to the utmost. Such a teacher appreciates the fact 
that there are just so many minutes in the day and that there are 
none to be lost through unnecessary interruptions nor through lack 
of a definite plan of procedure. Such teachers during the first few 
days of a school term establish in their classes certain methods of 
procedure which are held to throughout the term. These have to 
do with such matters as how the class shall enter and leave the room ; 
how it shall pass to the blackboards ; how papers shall be distributed 
and collected; how the children shall stand when reciting; how the 
teacher's attention is to be secured with the least disturbance to 
others; what shall be done with hats and wraps and how they shall 
be distributed ; what is to be understood about whispering and about 
helping one another ; what is to be done in a fire drill — in short, all 
those matters which affect the handling of the class as a whole and 
which can be rendered automatic and habitual are taken up, the 
method of procedure set forth and then held to, to the end that these 
matters may not be constantly intruding themselves, diverting the 
attention of teachers and children, disrupting and disorganizing the 
work, and wasting the precious time of all. 

Aside from the failure to plan work carefully and to organize and 
make habitual the general schoolroom activities of the class, there is 
a third danger point from the standpoint of wastage of time, espe- 
cially in the primarj^ grades, namely, in the so-called " busy work " 
devices. In classes of normal size it is impossible for the teacher of 
the primary grades to hold the attention of all of the pupils when 
taken en masse. It is customary, therefore, to break the class up 
into two or more groups and to give those at the seats " busy work " 
to occupy their attention while the remainder of the class are re- 
citing under the immediate direction of the teacher. Such "busy 
work " consists of number, word, or phonogram cards, blocks, pic- 
tures, colored crayon, dominoes, scissors and paper, raffia weaving, 

^Ascham, Roger. The Scholemaster. Arber Edition, p. 62. 



128 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH OABOLINA. 

and what not, all ostensibly engaging the child in activities which 
are profitable educationally. This matter of " busy work " is a dif- 
ficult problem for primary grade teachers at best; but in Columbia, 
except in a few instances, it is not being well handled, for it is all 
too evident that but poor success attends the efforts. This, however, 
it should be pointed out, is in part due to a pitiable meagerness of 
equipment at the command of the teachers, with the result that in 
an unduly high percentage of cases the devices merely keep the 
children quiet while the teacher is occupied with others. In such 
instances it would be more profitable were the children to be sent 
out of doors and permitted to play their games. Smaller classes, 
better equipment, a clearer view of the pedagogy involved, more 
definite planning of the teachers' work, more adequate supervision, 
and beginning children trained in good kindergartens are ways 
whereby this difficulty of profitably occupying the time of primary 
grade children can be met. 

Observation will convince one that the aggregate wastage of 
children's time in many schoolrooms in every system is enormous. 
It is a matter deserving the most thoughtful attention of every super- 
visor and teacher. Lack of careful planning of the day's work 
accounts for much of it; permitting interruptions of all kinds (en- 
tertainments, reports, parades, preparation for holidays and vaca- 
tions) to the orderly procedure of school work accounts for much 
also ; but the fundamental difficulty is the fact that too few teachers 
place a high value on the work they are doing, consequently they 
feel that the loss of a little time here and there, the aggregate 
amount of which during a term or year they utterly underestimate, 
does not much matter. The teacher who holds her own work in high 
esteem, and who has the interest of her pupils truly at heart, will 
be very jealous of encroachments by anybody upon her time. Super- 
intendents, supervisors, and principals should stoutly support her 
in such an attitude, and avoid, except in emergencies, the practice 
of sending around notices or calling for reports on special matters, 
or in any other way diverting her attention from the work she is in 
her classroom expressly to do. With the multitude of demands 
pressing in on the school — ethical, moral, patriotic, esthetic — it must 
not be forgotten that the peculiar function of the school is still that 
of providing a place where children are to be taught by teachers. 
Efl&ciency in this work demands primarily that the teaching process 
be not interrupted. 

TIME WASTAGE IN THE HIGH SCHOOL. 

That the wastage of time is not limited to the primary grades of 
our school systems is obvious to anyone who has had experience in 
school visitation, but the extent is a surprise, doubtless, to all who 



INSUPFIGIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 129 

have not made the matter a subject of investigation. Another study 
of the same character, this time of high-school classes, was made 
by Stephen S. Colvin, the State inspector of the high schools of 
Rhode Island. He reports, after an observation of 200 high school 
recitation periods, the following distribution: 

During 1 period of the 200 which he witnessed the pupils of 
the class were mentally active but 2 minutes of the total 45 minutes ; 
during 5 periods the class was active for approximately 5 minutes; 
during 9 periods for 10 minutes; during 21 periods for 15 minutes; 
during 37 periods for 20 minutes ; during 55 periods for 25 minutes j 
during 38 periods for 30 minutes ; during 22 periods for 35 minutes ; 
during 9 periods for 40 minutes; and during 3 periods only did 
the classes observed profitably employ as much as 42 of the 46 
minute-s. That is, out of a possible teaching time of 9,000 minutes, 
4,943 minutes were employed, and 4,057 minutes were wasted. Com- 
menting on these results he says : 

These observations seem to indicate that under ordinary classroom condi- 
tions in a large-sized high school, half of the day is wasted. While conditions 
vary greatly with various teachers, subjects, schools, and classes, it is probable 
that on the average the waste is no less than that found in the classes observed.* 

In his analysis of the causes of this wastage in the classroom, 
Colvin, among other reasons, enumerates the following: The ma- 
terials used in laboratory and classroom are not placed where they 
are readily accessible, nor is the routing of the material planned out 
in sfystematic detail. Time is wasted in such mechanical operations 
as the distribution of themes and paper and in passing to and from 
the blackboard. Much of the material which the pupil gets through 
dictation by the teacher could be gotten more economically in other 
ways. Eequiring pupils to write out each question, as well as its 
answer, as in an examination, is often a waste of time. Employing 
many profitless forms of written work, the careless assignment of 
lessons and the failure of the teacher to impress the pupil with the 
value of the task assigned account also for much wastage. And, 
finally, using uneconomical methods of testing the knowledge of 
pupils, roundabout and unpsychological methods of drill, wasteful 
and unskillful methods of questioning, vague statements by both 
teacher and pupils, and the lack of an adequate lesson plan are other 
causes entering into this matter of the wastage of time, he holds. 

THE NEGLECT OF PUPILS IN THE RECITATION. 

Along another line, too, teachers, not only of the high school but of 
the grades as well, should be on their guard to prevent wastage, that 
is, through failing to grant to every pupil equal opportunity for par- 

* Colvin. An Introduction to mgh School Teaching. Macmillan, 1917, p. 128. 
76482—18 9 



130 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

ticipation in the activities of the classroom. Unless teachers are very 
careful, certain pupils in every class are sure to be neglected. Owing 
to the difference among pupils in ability, initiative, aggressiveness, 
talkativeness, and general attractiveness of personality, it is found 
that opportunity for participation is unequally distributed. A study 
of this matter by Dr. Ernest Horn,^ in 1913 and 1914, sought answers 
to the following questions: 

1. How equally is opportunity for classroom participation distributed? 
2. What is the relation between the amount of reciting done and the general 
all-round ability of the pupil? 3. What is the relation between the amount of 
reciting done in each subject and the special ability in this subject? 4. How 
many opportunities for participation in class work does the pupil have per hour? 
5. What proportion of the pupils' recitations are utter failures? 6. What is the 
relative amount of time given to talking as a form of participation as compared 
with other activities? 7. How many of the pupils' recitations consist of consecu- 
tive participations without the recitations of any other pupils intervening? 
8. What is the length of pupils' recitations? 

Records were made in the classes of 229 teachers in 22 different 
schools of 19 different systems in 11 different States and embraced 
data taken from the kindergarten, from each of the elementary grades, 
from the high school, and from the college. Conclusions were not 
reached on all these points, but several general tendencies stood out 
clearly, chief of which are the following : 

The best fourth of a class in general ability does about one and 
three-fifths times its equal share of reciting ; the second fourth, about 
one and one-ninth times an equal share ; the third fourth, about four- 
fifths of its share ; and the last fourth, approximately less than one- 
half of its share. That is, in general, the lowest quarter in ability 
does about a fourth as much reciting as does the highest quarter. 
There is also in evidence a tendency for the percentage of reciting 
done by the best quarter to increase with an advancing grade, so 
that the best pupils in the upper grammar grades do more reciting 
proportionally than the best pupils in primary grades. This ine- 
quality in recitation, too, is higher in the content subjects than in 
those subjects where the formal element predominates. That is, 
in phonics, spelling, and mathematics the distribution is tolerably 
even; in geography, science, and literature the first quarter does 
about one and one-half times as much reciting as does the fourth 
quarter; whereas in English composition, history, social, and indus- 
trial life, and in music the distribution is much more uneven, the 
first quarter doing from one and four-fifths to two and three-fourths 
as much reciting as does the fourth quarter. 

That the formal subjects of school curricula should be those in 
which is found the greatest equality of opportunity is to be expected, 

1 Horn, Ernest. Distribution of Opportunity for Participation Among the Various 
Pupils in Classroom Recitations. Teachers College, Columbia University ; Contributions 
to Education, No. 67. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 131 

for the methods which are particularly adapted to the teaching of 
formal subjects are those in which it is relatively easy for teachers 
to secure an equable distribution of opportunity. On the other hand, 
in dealing with a content which depends largely upon the method of 
organized oral discussions, the subject matter is more difficult and 
likewise more interesting to the teacher, so that her attention is likely 
to be occupied more with the subject than with questions of class- 
room procedure. This also explains, in part, doubtless, the tendency 
for inequality of opportunity to become accentuated as one advances 
on up the grade-line; the greater age of the pupil, too, makes him 
better able to make his personality felt in gaining the recognition 
and attention of the teacher in contrast with those whose exercise of 
personal initiative is less marked. 

In summary, then, of this discussion of the instructional activities 
of the classroom, a pedagogical rosary might be suggested, the beads 
of which should be religiously "said over," morning, noon, and 
night by every supervisor and teacher: 

Am I distinguishing between formal and cultural content and do I use 
methods adapted to each? Am I guarding against discursiveness in classroom 
discussion? Do I make effective use of every minute in the teaching day? 
Have I systematized my schoolroom procedure so that no time is lost? Is my 
teaching so shaped that the experience of every child is being remade and ex- 
tended? Do I give the timid unprepossessing pupil in my class as much atten- 
tion and opportunity as I do the brilliant and attractive pupil? Is my teach- 
ing serious and thoughtful or does it consist chiefly of memoriter work? Do 
I conduct my classes in a clear-cut well-defined way, as though I knew what 
I wanted and how to get it? Do I make my lesson assignments in a way such 
that the pupils can work intelligently and economically? Is new matter care- 
fully based on that which the pupil knows? Am I requiring my pupils to draw 
their own conclusions and generalizations as a result of their own efforts and 
am I giving them the concrete material essential to work of this character? 
Do I see to it that when generalizations are made they are applied to new sets 
of concrete details? Am I skillfully using the pupil's out-of-school experience 
to illustrate the points I want to make? Am I developing each subject clearly 
and logically according to its ovm nature and correlating the school subjects 
properly? Am I sufficiently familiar with the work of the system as a whole to 
know what pupils have studied when they come to me and to know what work 
they are expected to do when they leave me? Am I getting acquainted with my 
pupils as individuals, with their home life, with their school life, and am I 
making full use of this knowledge? 

UNIVEKSITY STANDING OF COLUMBIA HIGH-SCHOOL GEADUATES. 

In connection with this discussion of the teaching activities of the 
classroom the committee considered it of value, as well as of interest, 
to secure a statement from the dean of the University of South Caro- 
lina regarding the scholarship record in the university made by the 
graduates of the local high school in comparison with the average 
record made by all of the students of the university and in compari- 



132 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 

son also with various school groups. As it turns out, however, the 
only comparison of any especial significance is the one between the 
Columbia group and the total student body of the university, for 
there are too few students in other high-school groups to warrant 
the drawing of comparisons with them. 

The records show that during the first semester of 1917-18, 
Columbia graduates, of all classes, were graded on an aggregate of 
139 units of work. Of this number 48 units were graded "A," the 
highest mark given ; 83 were graded " B " ; 5 units were conditioned ; 
and 3 classified as failures. That is to say, 34.5 per cent of the work 
fell into the first scholarship rank, against an average for the uni- 
versity of 32.5 per cent; 59.7 per cent of the work was given a second 
grade as compared with an average for the university of 54 per cent ; 
while but three-tenths of 1 per cent was conditioned and two-tenths 
of 1 per cent failed, in comparison with an average for the university 
of 9.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively. In other words, Co- 
lumbia graduates maintained a rank well above the average scholar- 
ship ranking for the university. The table which follows bears out 
the statement made by the dean : " I can say that our records for the 
past five or six years show that the Columbia students generally 
maintain a high average of scholarship." 

Relative achievements of university students, first semester, 1917-18. 





Total 
num- 
ber of 
stu- 
dents 
ceiving 
a mark. 


Grand 
total of 
imits of 
work 
taken 
by all 
stu- 
dents. 


Scholarship mark. 


Students. 


"A" 

90-100. 


"B" 
75-89. 


"C" 

65-74 

(condition). 


"D" 

0-64 

(failure). 




Total 
units. 


Per- 
centage 
of grand 
total. 


Total 
units. 


Per- 
centage 
of grand 

total. 


Total 
units. 


Per- 
centage 
of grand 
total. 


Total 
units. 


Per- 
centage 
of grand 

total. 


University under- 
graduates 


254 

24 
4 
5 
7 
3 
3 


1,445 

139 
20 
31 
41 
15 
19 


467 

48 
11 
13 
13 
8 
6 


32.5 

34.5 
65.0 
41.9 
31.7 
53.3 
26.3 


778 

83 
7 

18 

22 
3 

14 


54.0 

59.7 
35.0 
58.0 
53.6 
20.0 
73.6 


140 

5 
2 


9.8 

.3 

10.0 


60 
3 


4.1 


Students from Co- 
lumbia High 
School 


.2 


Students from Char- 




Students from Mul- 
lins 






Students from Lan- 
caster . 


5 
3 


12.2 
20.0 


1 

1 


.2 


Students from Flor- 


6.6 


Students from Lau- 
rens . 















METHOD OF ENTERING THE UNIVERSITY FROM THE COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL. 



Inasmuch as the statement has been made that the University of 
South Carolina admits students who have not completed a full four- 
year course at the high school, and that in consequence it is difficult 



INSUFFICIEN-T MAINTEKANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



133 



to hold together a fourth-year class in the local high school, the fol- 
lowing compilation by the dean of the university is in point : 

Columbia high-school students entering the University of South Carolina. 



Sessions. 


Total 
university 
em-ollment 

from 
Columbia. 


Number 
coming in 
by exami- 
nation or 
with less 
than 4- 
year high- 
school 
oourse. 


Number 
entering 
with full 
high-school 
course. 


1914-15 


7 
16 
5 
9 




17 


1915-16 .. 




>16 


1916-17 


S2 
3 


•3 


1917-18 


6 







1 Admitted by diploma; no fourth year in high school. 

2 Made full 14 units by examination. 

* Graduated February, 1916; granted diploma for SJ-year course. 



1. The teachers need more criticism of constructive and kindly 
character than they are now getting. 

2. The superintendent has been too much occupied with the build- 
ing program to give his attention to supervision ; the principals have 
had to teach full time, and have therefore not supplied the needed 
supervision; a considerable part of the elementary school super- 
visor's time has been diverted to the distribution of supplies ; in con- 
sequence, supervision of the teaching activities is inadequate and 
the work is lacking in coordination. 

3. This lack of coordination expresses itself especially in the pro- 
motion of pupils, in the teaching activities of the classrooms, and in 
the achievement of the pupils as shown by the standard educational 
measurement tests. 

4. The promotion plan based upon formal examination coupled 
with the term standing has resulted in a great variation among 
schools and among classes in standards of promotion. 

5. This variation in promotion standards is even greater in the 
high school, where promotion is by subjects and not classes. This 
failure can not be accounted for wholly by irregularity in attendance. 

6. The marks given by the teachers are inaccurate expressions of 
pupils' ability and work injustice on individuals. 

7. The present system of promotion should be supplanted by the 
system which recognizes that there is a normal distribution of ability 
common to all groups of pupils. 

8. In the instructional activities of Columbia there are evidences 
of two dangers — (1) toward inertia and (2) toward disintegrated 
and disunited effort. 

9. The distinction between the methodology of the formal elemente 
and the methodology of the cultural elements of a subject should be 
clearly drawn by the teachers. 



134 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

10. There is much need of enriching courses of study through 
supplying adequate supplementary material and through building 
up school libraries. 

11. The present close adherence to textbook teaching should be 
supplanted by the method of organized oral discussion, 

12. Much attention needs to be directed to eliminating the wastage 
of pupils' time now taking place. This wastage is especially appar- 
ent in connection with the so-called " busy work " of the primary 
grades, in lack of a careful planning of the day's work, in frequent 
interruptions to the work of pupils and teachers, and in the failure 
of teachers to place a sufficiently high value on their own work. 

13. Teachers need to be alert to see that the pupils who are timid, 
reticent, and retiring in disposition have just as much opportunity to 
participate in classroom work as those who are aggressive and talka- 
tive. 

3. THE RESULTS OF THE STANDARD EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT TESTS. 

Until within a decade the results of the teaching activities of the 
school, expressed in terms of the progress of children in the subjects 
which the schools offer, have been entirely a matter of personal 
opinion. No educational yardstick has been at hand by which effi- 
ciency could be judged and the relative standing of schools or of 
classes determined. Within a very few years, however, a system of 
tests has been devised and so standardized that it is now possible, in 
some lines of school work, to form a comparative estimate of the 
achievement of schools and of systems which is fairly accurate 
within the restricted fields wherein the tests operate. 

So far as this movement has developed, it offers the greatest prom- 
ise of success in providing a basis for judging of that part of school 
work which has to do with establishing automatic habits, as in spell- 
ing, penmanship, and the processes of arithmetic. There is much 
of the work of every good school, however, that is too intangible to 
admit of definite, precise measurement — the character-creating in- 
fluence of the school, to mention but one illustration. On the other 
hand, there is much of the work of the school that is or should be 
definite, tangible, and hence measureable. It is in this field of the 
school's activity that educational measurement tests can render a 
district an important service. 

Cubberley very well suromarizes the larger possibilities of this de- 
velopment in educational practice when he says:^ 

The significance of these new standards of measurement for our educational 
service is indeed large. Their use means nothing less than the ultimate trans- 
formation of school work from guesswork to scientific accuracy; the elimina- 
tion of favoritism and politics from the work; the ending forever of the day 
when a personal or a political enemy of a superintendent can secure his re- 

1 Cubberley, E. P. Introduction to Educational Tests and Measurements. By Monroe. 
DeVoss, and Kelly, 1917. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 135 

moval, without regard to the efficiency of the school system he has built up ; 
the substitution of well-trained experts as superintendents of schools for the 
old successful practitioners; and the changing of school supervision from a 
temporary or a political job, for which little or no preparation need be made, 
to that of a highly skilled piece of social engineering, 

THE TESTS EMPLOYED IN COLUMBIA. 

In Columbia no attempt was made to measure the quality of tlie 
penmanship, for the schools were in process of changing their system 
of handwriting to that known as the Palmer system, a system which 
has met with favor in many places where it has been introduced. In 
changing from one system of penmanship to another, the transition 
period is always a chaotic one, for it means breaking up one set of 
muscular coordinations and substituting another. Columbia was 
just at this point; it was felt, therefore, that any comparison with 
cities wherein no such transition was under way would be unfair; 
consequently the standardized penmanship test was not employed. 

Three tests, however, were used — ^the Ayres spelling test, the 
Stone reasoning test in arithmetic, and the Courtis arithmetic test — 
the latter testing the efficiency of the work of the schools in addi- 
tion, subtraction, multiplication, and division of integers. These are 
described in order and the results obtained by each set forth. 

ALLOWANCE TO BE MADE FOE UNUSUAL CONDITIONS. 

These standardized tests were given at the close of the fall term 
of school. Unfortunately the term's work was interrupted on two 
occasions by a shut-down of the schools for a considerable period. 
In terms of school work the closing of the schools always means a 
greater interruption to the regular work than the length of the 
period signifies, for it always takes an appreciable time for classes 
to get back into their stride. On the other hand, however, the tests 
have to do chiefly with determining how nearly automatic certain 
reactions have become; so there ought to be a point somewhere in 
a child's progress where these reflexes are so well established that 
interruptions should not affect them too seriously. If interruptions 
do make a radical difference in measurable results, the fact would 
seem to argue that the work has not yet reached the requisite 
efficiency. 

Again, it should be pointed out, in many of the cities which have 
contributed to the development of the standard, these tests, given in 
Columbia for the first time, have been repeatedly given. A familiarity 
with the technique and routine of procedure doubtless would have an 
appreciable effect upon the result and is a factor for which allow- 
ance should be made. 



136 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
A. THE SPEXLING TEST. 

Spelling as a differentiated subject in the Columbia schools is be-' 
gun in the second grade and continued throughout the seventh. In 
the second and third grades 150 minutes per week are given to it, 100 
minutes in each of the fourth and fifth grades, and 80 minutes in the 
sixth and seventh. 

Class lists of words misspelled by the pupils are prepared by the 
teacher, and the pupil is encouraged to watch his own work and 
list the words which he commonly misspells. These are used to 
supplement the assignments of words taken from the regular spell- 
ing text. The instructions issued to the teachers by the elementary 
supervisor concerning the teaching of spelling are commendable. 

PEETINENT QUESTIONS TO THE TEACHEE OF SPELLING. 

Under this caption the supervisor has asked the teachers a series 
of searching questions which are well worth repeating and emphasiz- 
ing. The list follows : 

1. Are you in any persistent and systematic way following up the work taught 
by investigations of various kinds to test the ability of the pupils to spell 
these words? This question might be analyzed and stated more specifically, 
as: (a) How many different words have you taught this term? (b) Do you 
have the words already taught checked or listed, so that you can give the 
pupils a test, including all or a random selection of the words taught up to 
date? (c) How do you use the results of this test in order that the pupils may 
derive the most benefit? id) Is the nature of the test such as to prove the 
pupils' knowledge of the meaning of the words as well as their ability to re- 
member the order of the letters? 

2. In dictating words, whether daily, weekly, or monthly, to what extent do 
you require their use in sentences? 

3. Do you agree that the real and final test of ability to spell is found in 
spontaneous written composition? If so, to what extent do you use this test 
systematically? In other words, how many of the words taught are the pupils 
using intelligently in their original compositions, when the expression of 
thought is uppermost in their mind? Can you devise some means of applying 
such a test without consuming an undue amount of time and energy? Would 
it be practical for the teacher or pupils to keep an alphabetical list of all words 
taught, for the purpose of checking up all of the misspelled words in a set of 
compositions occasionally? If this idea, or some modification of it, could be 
employed to test the use of all words taught, would it not show (a) the words 
not used at all and (6) the words accurately and intelligently used? 

4. Do you quite frequently inspect the personal list of the pupils to ascer- 
tain whether or not they are actually being used? Do you ever compare the 
personal lists of individual pupils with their compositions for the purpose of 
learning — (a) Has the pupil studied his list? (b) How many words are ac- 
curately used in the composition and included in the list? (c) How many are 
inaccurately used and in the list? (d) To what extent is the pupil recording 
misspelled words? Would not a custom of this kind be very helpful, especially 
with poor spellers? 

5. Is most of the time spent on this subject used for teaching or testing? 
Do the pupils feel that it is a time for thought or for drill? 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



137 



THE TEST DESCBIBED. 



The test which was given from the second grade to the eighth, 
inclusive, consisted of the words for each grade taken from Ayres 
List B, of " One Thousand Commonest Words." ^ The words in each 
list have been spelled correctly by 73 per cent of the children in the 
respective grades in tests which have been given in many cities. 
Therefore 73 per cent may be accepted as the standard for each grade 
in Columbia, if the teaching of spelling is to be adjudged equal to 
the average of many cities of the United States. The six tests which 
were used follow : 



Second grade. 


Third grade. Fourth grade. 


Fifth grade. 


1. nine ' 


1. 


catch 1. 


eight 




1. sometimes 


2. got 


2. 


able 2. 


aboard 




2. period 


3, spring 


3. 


fell 3. 


restrain 




3. firm 


4. stone 


4. 


soap 4. 


population 


4. crowd 


5. fall 


5. 


express 5. 


figure 




5. relative 


6. put 


6. 


table 6. 


everything 


6. serve 


7. Monday 


7. 


road 7. 


farther 




7. due 


8. take 


8. 


power 8. 


knew 




8. ledge 


9. its 


9. 


another 9. 


fact 




9. information 


10. sold 


10. 


church 10. 


public 




10. present 


Sixth grade. 




Seventh grade. 




Eighth grade. 


1. often 




1. meant 




1. 


organization 


2. total 




2. distinguish 




2. 


emergency 


3. examination 




3. assure 




3. 


appreciate 


4. marriage 




4. probably 




4. 


sincerely 


5. opinion 




5. responsible 




5. 


athletic 


6. witness 




6. difficulty 




6. 


extreme 


7. theater 




7. develop 




7. 


practical 


8. supply 




8. material 




8. 


proceed 


9. course 




9. senate 




9. 


cordially 


10. doubt 




10. agreement 




10. 


character 



Result of spelling test in white schools. 



Schools and grades. 



Boys. 



Words 
correct. 



Per 

cent 
correct. 



Words 
correct, 



Per 

cent 
correct. 



Total 
pupils. 



Total 
words 
correct. 



Per 

cent 
correct. 



Blossom Street School: 

Grade II 

Grade HI 

Grade IV 

Grade V 

Grade VI 

Total 

Granby School: 

Grade U 

Grade m 

Total 



78.7 
56.9 
55.3 
86.6 
70.0 



61.1 

74.4 
87.5 



80.0 
77.5 



82.8 
72.5 
58.7 
77.5 
77.7 



1 Ayres, L. P. A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling. Russell Sage Foundation, 
New York, 1915. 



138 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
Result of spelling test in white schools — Continued. 



Schools and grades. 


Boys. 


Words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 

correct. 


Girls. 


Words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 

correct. 


Total 
pupils. 


Total 
words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 

correct. 


Logan School: 

Grade II . .. 


53 

81 
58 
42 
29 
29 


385 
559 
374 
303 
216 
187 


72.6 
69.0 
65.0 
72.0 
74.0 
65.0 


63 
66 

36 


529 
534 
464 
3€8 
341 
287 


84.0 
81.0 
75.0 
77.0 
83.0 


116 
147 
120 
90 
70 
65 


914 
1,093 
838 
671 
557 
474 


79.6 


Grade III 


74.3 


Grade IV 


69.8 


Grade V . ... 


74.5 


Grade VI 


79.5 


Grade VII 


72.9 






Total 


292 


2,024 


69.0 


316 


2,523 


80.0 


608 


4,547 


74.7 






McMaster School: 

Grade II .... 


36 
45 
40 
33 
39 
28 


217 
314 
277 
258 
280 
201 


60.0 

78;i 
71.8 
71.8 


51 
37 
37 
35 
25 
28 


331 
256 
255 
278 
192 
209 


64.9 
69.2 
68.9 
79.4 
71.8 
74.4 


87 
82 
77 
68 
64 
56 


548 
570 
532 
536 
472 
410 


63.0 


Grade III 


69.5 


Grade IV 


69.0 


Grade V 


78.8 


Grade VI 


73.7 


Grade VII 


73.2 






Total . 


221 


1,547 


70.0 


213 


1,521 


71.4 


434 


3,068 


70.7 






Shandon School: 

Grade II 


14 
27 
26 
15 
10 
9 


118 
191 
193 
123 

75 
67 


84.0 
71.0 
74.0 
82.0 
75.0 
74.0 


16 
18 
21 
13 
15 
11 


117 
141 
148 

90 
129 

98 


73.0 
78.0 
70.0 

86! 


30 
45 

47 
28 
25 
20 


235 
332 
341 
213 
204 
165 


78.3 


Grade III 


73.7 


Grade IV 


72.5 


Grade V 


76.0 


Grade VI. . 


81.6 


Grade VII 


82.5 






Total 


101 


767 


76.0 


94 


723 


77.0 


195 


1,490 


76.4 






Taylor School: 

Grade II 


37 
31 
37 
26 
22 
9 


221 
216 
253 
196 
167 
71 


59.0 
69.0 
68.0 
75.0 
76.0 
78.0 


38 
28 
39 
33 
28 
22 


286 
192 
275 
269 
235 
158 


7.5.0 
68.0 
70.0 
81.0 
84.0 
71.0 


75 
59 
76 
59 
50 
31 


507 

408 
528 
465 
402 


67.6 


Grade III. 


69.1 


Grade IV 


69.4 


Grade V 


78.7 


Grade VI 


80.0 


Grade VII 


74.2 






Total 


162 


1,124 


69.0 


188 


1,415 


75.0 


350 


2,539 


72.5 






Waverley School: 

Grade II 


15 
11 
21 
8 
6 
11 


76 
71 
144 
52 
38 
74 


63.0 
64.0 
69.0 
65.0 
63.0 
67.0 


17 
21 
10 


126 
175 
85 
83 
25 
54 


73.0 
83.0 
85.0 
64.0 
63.0 
60.0 


32 
32 
31 
21 
10 
20 


202 
246 
229 
135 
63 
128 


63.1 


Grade III... . 


76.8 


Grade IV 


73.8 


Grade V 


64.3 


Grade VI 


63.0 


Grade VII. . 


64.0 






Total 


72 


455 


63.0 


74 


548 


74.0 


146 


1,003 


68.7 






High School: 

GradeVni 


103 


661 


64.2 


107 


745 


69.6 


210 


1,406 


66.9 






Total for all 


1,021 


7,079 


69.3 


1,090 


8,241 


75.6 


2,111 


15,320 


72.5 







Result of spelling test in negro schools. 



Schools and grades. 


Boys. 


Words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 

correct. 


Girls. 


Words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 

correct. 


Total 
pupils. 


Total 
words 
correct. 


Per 

cent 
correct. 


Booker T. Washington 
School: 
Grade II 


32 
42 
25 
10 
11 
3 


222 
285 
171 

68 
21 


69 

68 
68 
69 
65 
70 


81 
48 
43 
28 
25 
12 


567 
322 
308 
218 
189 
89 


70 
67 
72 
78 
76 
74 


113 
90 

38 
36 
15 


789 
607 
470 
287 
257 
110 




Grade III 


67 4 


Grade IV 


69.1 


Grade V 


75 5 


Grade VI 




Grade VII 


73 3 






Total 


123 


836 


68 


237 


1,693 


71 


360 


2,529 


70 2 







INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION, 
Result of spelling test in negro schools — Continued. 



139 



Boys. 



Words 
correct. 



Per 

cent 

correct. 



Girls. 



Words 
correct. 



Per 

cent 
correct. 



Total 
pupils. 



Total 
words 
correct. 



Per 

cent 

correct. 



Howard School: 

Grade II 

Grade III 

Grade IV 

Grade V 

Grade VI 

Grade VII.... 
Grade VIII... 

Total 

Total for aU 



5,570 



55.1 
46.0 
74.5 
38.3 
63.6 
52.5 
66.8 



55.0 
61.0 



Summary of spelling test, distributed l)y grades. 



White schools. 



Blos- 
som 
Street. 



Gran- 

by. 



Logan, 



Mc- 
Mas- 
ter 



Shan^ 
don. 



Tay- 
lor. 



Wav- 
erley. 



Negro schools. 



Book- 
er T. 
Wash- 
ing- 
ton. 



How- 
ard. 



All 

white 
schools 



All 
negro 



The 
entire 
sys- 
tem. 



Third grade.... 
Fourth grade... 

Fifth grade 

Sixth grade 

Seventh grade.. 
Eighth grade... 

All grades. 



72.5 
58.7 
77.5 
77.7 



82.5 
82.7 



79.6 
74.3 

74! 5 
79.5 
72.9 



78.8 
73.7 
73.2 



78.3 
73.7 
72.5 
76.0 



67.6 

69.4 
78.7 
80.0 
74.0 



63.1 
76.8 
73.8 
64.3 
63.0 
64.0 



67.4 

75! 5 
71.4 
73.3 



55.1 
46.0 
74.5 
38.3 
63.6 
52.5 



72.6 
72.8 

76^0 
77.5 
73.7 



63.1 
54.7 
72.1 
49.7 
67.1 
57.4 



70.1 
68.1 
74.8 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPELLING TEST, 

In giving the test, taking the system as a whole, 30,230 words were 
dictated, of which number 20,890, or 69.1 per cent, were spelled cor- 
rectly. Taking the average of 73 per cent correct among the cities 
where the test has been given under the same conditions as a standard, 
it is seen that for the entire system Columbia fell short by nearly 4 
points. The averages of several of the schools, however, passed the 
standard ; the Blossom Street, Granby, Logan, and Shandon Schools, 
for example. The Taylor almost reached the standard, while the 
McMaster, the Waverley, the eighth grade in the high school, and 
both of the negro schools fell below, one of the latter, the Howard, 
being so low as to suggest the need of a radical overhauling of the 
work of the school. 

All of the white schools, regarded as a group, reached 72.5 per cent 
of accuracy; whereas the negro schools fell below the score made 
by the white children by 11 points. Here again, however, the 
Howard School brings down the negro rating seriously. The Booker 
T. Washington School, indeed, as compared with other schools of the 



140 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

system, stands well, having a 70 per cent rating for all grades taken 
together. This places it in the same scholarship group with the 
Waverley School, the McMaster School, and the eighth grade of the 
high school. 

As to the grades taken separately, but for the system as a whole, 
only one reached the standard average of 73 per cent, the sixth grade, 
though, if the white children be separated from the negroes, the 
scores of the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades are seen to have passed 
this standard, while the second and third grades are but a fraction 
lower. In one school, the Shandon, every grade reached or passed 
the standard. Among the white children the lowest score was made 
by the eighth grade, it having an accuracy rating of 66.9 per cent, 
being 3 points below the next lowest grade and nearly 6 points below 
the average of the white schools. 

A comparison between the boys and girls of the system as to 
relative standing is interesting. Among the white schools of the city 
10,210 words were dictated to the boys, and 7,079 were spelled cor- 
rectly, or 69.3 per cent. To the girls were dictated 10,900 words, and 
8,241 were spelled correctly, or 75.6 per cent. The white boys fell 
short of the standard, then, by 3.7 per cent, whereas the girls passed 
the standard by almost as many points. In but one school, the 
Granby, did the boys excel the girls. It is notable that with but one 
exception in all of the white schools the girls exceeded the standard 
score, whereas the boys fell short in all but two schools. In the negro 
schools the girls likewise outranked the boys, though neither reached 
the standard score of 73 per cent correct in either of the schools. 

The showing made in this test is very creditable ; however, inasmuch 
as a school department should ever strive to better its work, it is sug- 
gested that this can be accomplished, judging by the results of the 
test, by giving special attention to the work of the following grades: 

Blossom Street School Third and fourth grades. 

Logan School Fourth grade. 

McMaster School Second, third, and fourth grades. 

Taylor School Second, third, and fourth grades. 

Waverley School Second, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. 

High School Eighth grade. 

Booker T. Washington School (negro) —Second, third, fourth, and sixth grades. 
Howard School (negro) All grades except the fourth. 

The range of variation as between the lowest and highest scores 
gained by each grade in the system is large, indicating that the 
spelling work of the system is in need of coordination. In the second 
grade, the white schools alone considered, this variation is 20 points ; 
in the third grade, 4 points ; in the fourth and fifth grades, 15 points 
each ; and in the sixth and seventh grades, 18 points each. Were the 
efficiency of the work in the grades which are listed as being in need 



INSTTPPICIENT MAINTENAITCE AND SUPEKVISION. 141 

of special attention brought up to the suggested standard, this wide 
variation in results would be eliminated. 

Within the limits, too, of each school the range of variation is nearly 
as great, showing that each school, taken as a unit, is in need of closer 
supervision. For example, the variation between the highest and 
lowest grade scores in the Blossom Street School is 24 points; in the 
Granby the two classes are together in their rating ; in the Logan the 
range is 10 points; in the McMaster, 16 points; in the Shandon, 10 
points ; in the Taylor, 12 points ; and in the Waverley, 13 points. Of 
course, were the grades broken up into class units in every instance, 
the range of variation would be considerably increased. With close 
supervision, however, it will not be difficult to eliminate this variation 
by raising the grades which are weakest nearer to the standard score. 

B. THE COtTBTIS AEITHMETIC TEST. 

The most widely used test for judging of the efficiency of schools 
and classes in the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, 
and division with integers is that devised by Dr. S. A. Courtis, of 
Detroit. By testing thousands of children of all grades and in all 
types of schools throughout the country, he has formulated a stand- 
ard of attainment in both speed and accuracy by which other schools 
can be rated. 

The series consists of four tests printed on a four-page folder, one 
test to each page. Twenty-four examples of equal difficulty are 
given in each. A time limit is set for each test, 8 minutes for the 
addition test, 4 minutes for the subtraction, 6 minutes for the 
multiplication, and 8 minutes for the division test. Within these 
respective time limits each pupil tested is required to solve as many 
examples as he can. The papers are then marked for the number 
attempted (speed) and for the number which are correct (accuracy). 
In order that all tests may be standardized, no credit is given for 
examples incomplete or partially correct. The following are sample 
exercises of the four tests, the remaining examples of each are of 
equal difficulty : 

Test No. 1. Addition. (8 mimites). 



927 


297 


136 


486 


384 


176 


277 


837 


379 


925 


340 


765 


477 


783 


445 


882 


756 


473 


988 


524 


881 


697 


682 


959 


837 


983 


386 


140 


266 


200 


594 


603 


924 


315 


353 


812 


679 


366 


481 


118 


110 


661 


904 


466 


241 


851 


778 


781 


854 


794 


547 


355 


796 


535 


849 


756 


965 


177 


192 


834 


850 


323 


157 


222 


344 


124 


439 


567 


733 


229 


953 


525 



142 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
Test No. 2. Subtraction (^ minutes). 



115364741 
80195261 


67298125 
29346861 


92057352 
42689037 


113380936 
42556840 


Test 

8876 
93 


No. S. Multiplication (6 minutes). 

9245 7368 2594 6495 
86 74 25 19 



Test No. 4- Division (8 minutes). 
37)14167 86)60372 94)67774 25)9750 

THE EESULTS OF THE TEST IN COLUMBIA. 

The test was given in Columbia early in 1918 to pupils of the 
fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, who were just completing 
the first semester's work of the schools. In all, 1,229 pupils, 897 
white and 332 negro, were tested. The tables which follow show the 
number of attempts which were made by each grade. Instead of 
giving the average number of attempts made by the pupils of each 
class, the median number is given. The median, it should be ex- 
plained, is the middle point in a series or the point above which there 
are just as manj^ as there are below it. Thus, for example, if five 
pupils work, respectively, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 11 problems, the median 
number worked would be that number which was solved by the 
pupil who stood at the middle point of the series, i. e., at 6. This is 
a better way of expressing the " central tendency " of the group 
than through the use of the average or arithmetical mean and is 
employed now in statistical work much more frequently. 

THE BATE OF SPEED. 

These tables show how the pupils divide up in the number of 
examples which were attempted. For example, in the addition test 
of the eighth grade of the white schools, 4 pupils attempted 3 ex- 
amples each, 14 attempted to work 4 each, 18 pupils attempted 5 
each, etc. The " central tendency " of the class as a whole, called 
the " median," was 8.1 examples attempted. The results in all four 
tests are shown for white children and negro children grouped 
separately and for the two grouped together, which gives, for pur- 
poses of comparison, the accomplishment of the system as a whole 
as to speed. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 

Addition attempts (time, 8 minutes). 



143 





To- 
tal- 
pa- 
pers. 


Attempts. 


Grades. 


' 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


18 


19 


24 


Me- 
dian. 


White: 

VIII 


204 
194 
217 
282 

58 

' 80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
410 






4 

1 
5 
15 

3 

A 

26 

7 
16 
41 


14 
6 
14 
33 

10 
12 

40 

24 
18 
37 
73 


18 
24 
25 
63 

15 
13 
14 
25 

33 
37 
39 


29 
32 
43 
68 

12 
13 
16 
12 

41 

II 

3. 


32 
39 
50 
59 

10 

8 
5 

7 

42 
38 
55 
66 


45 
41 
31 
22 

3 
6 
4 
5 

48 
47 
35 

27 


28 

25 
14 

3 
3 
3 


13 
13 
9 
5 

2 

"i 


7 
6 
5 


1 

6 
4 


5 

6 

1 


5 

"2 
2 






1 


1 

1 


1 




VII 


. 




2 

1 


1 


8.01 


VI 


1 


1 

1 


7.4 


V 






... 






Negro: 
VIII 








6.01 


VII 


"2 


3 
3 
11 


1 


1 
















5.9 


VI 
















5.2 


V . 




















4.6 


White and negro: 
VIII 


31 

28 
28 
14 


15 
13 
10 
5 


7 
7 
5 


1 

7 
4 


5 
6 
1 


5 
"2 


"2 
1 


-i 


1 
1 


1 


' 


7.6 


VII 


.... 
2 


3 

4 
12 


7.5 


VI 






6.8 


V 










5.8 























Suhtraction attempts (time, 4 m,inutes). 





To- 
tal 
pu- 
pils. 


Attempts. 


Grades. 





1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


23 


24 


Me- 
dian. 


White: 

VIII 


204 
194 
217 

282 

58 






1 


1 
1 
1 
6 

2 

■■4 
27 

3 
1 

5 
25 


"i 
1 

1 

5 
10 

19 

1 
6 
11 
42 


8 
5 
13 
33 

4 
4 
16 
19 

12 
9 

29 
52 


22 
12 

20 
54 

12 
5 
20 
19 

34 
17 

40 
71 


19 
25 
22 
49 

3 

4 

12 
17 

22 
29 
34 


33 

32 

47 
52 

8 
13 

8 
10 

41 
45 
55 
56 


20 

30 
32 
30 

6 
10 

"4 

40 
32 
36 


25 

28 
26 
16 

9 
6 
2 
6 

34 

34 
28 
18 


24 
18 
21 
8 

5 

1 

2 
29 

8 


11 

21 
4 

> 

8 

1 

16 
24 
22 
5 


11 

10 
8 
3 

"i 

11 

10 

8 
4 


12 

5 

"i 

2 
3 
1 
1 

14 

8 
1 

1 


7 
5 

1 


3 

2 

1 


1 
3 

... 


"i 

1 


3 


... 


1 


9.9 


VII 


9.8 


VI 


1 








1 




9.0 


V 




3 

1 
2 
3 

2 
2 
3 
30 


7.4 


Negro: 

vm 




1 
3 
1 
2 

I 




1 

1 












8.6 


VII 






1 








8.7 


VI 


80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
410 


"i 

"i 

1 








6.3 


V 
















5.8 


White and negro: 
VIII 


7 
5 

1 


4 
3 
1 


1 




3 


... 


1 


9.6 


VII 


IJ. 


9.4 


VI 




1 




8.3 


V 


fi 7 



















Multiplication attempts (time, 6 m.inutes). 





'ft 

1 


Attempts. 


Grades. 





1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


18 


17 


19 


i 


White: 

VIII 


204 
194 

217 
282 

58 
66 
80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
410 


'"i 
■3 

""4 


1 
"i 
"2 

if 

1 


"i 

1 
2 

4 
1 

10 
39 

4 
2 
11 


7 
3 

14 

7 
6 
14 
32 

14 
9 
25 
46 


10 
6 
12 
30 

9 
10 
19 
18 

19 
16 
31 


17 
16 


44 


30 
38 
47 
39 

6 
3 
6 
5 

36 

41 
53 
44 


36 
36 
18 
21 

"5 

1 
2 

36 
41 
19 
23 


25 
32 
17 
11 

2 

i 
f. 

19 
12 


13 
14 
8 
5 

1 
1 


8 
15 

8 
2 


3 
3 
1 

1 


2 
3 


4 
3 


"2 


2 


1 
1 


1 


7 8 


VII 


8 3 


VI.... 


45! 47 


6 8 


V. 


80 

11 
15 
11 
12 

28 
31 
56 
92 


75 

18 
17 
10 
5 

62 

38 
57 
80 












6 ■> 


Negro: 

VIII 














5 8 


VII 


2 
2 
















5 q 


VI.... 
















4 3 


V. 
















? 3 


White and negro: 

VIII 


14 
15 
8 
5 


8 
17 
8 
2 


3 
3 
3 

1 


2 
3 

2 


4 
3 


"2 


2 


1 
1 


1 


7 


VII 


7 8 


VI.... 


6 4 


V... 












5 5 



















144 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
Division attempts {time, 8 minutes). 





i 


Attempts. 


Grades. 





1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


19 


20 


1 


White: 

VIII 


204 
194 

217 

282 

58 
66 
80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
«0 


... 

1 
2 

1 
2 
3 


"i 

2 
2 

1 
7 
3 
8 

1 
8 
21 
45 


2 

"5 
16 

3 

19 
43 

1 


8 
6 
35 
50 

11 

8 
18 
45 

19 

14 
44 
66 


21 
18 
41 

72 

15 
15 
9 
16 

36 
33 
61 
84 


30 
39 

47 
72 

12 
10 
20 
12 

42 
49 
51 
76 


34 
26 
30 
33 

4 
9 
4 
4 

38 
35 
30 


27 
19 
19 
11 

4 


32 
24 
13 
U 

1 
4 
2 


13 
19 
9 

10 

3 

1 
3 


18 

22 
8 
2 

3 

1 
1 


7 
8 
5 
2 


6 
9 

1 
1 


3 

1 
1 


"i 
1 


1 


1 


1 




7 ?. 


VII 


7 4 


VI... 








5 Fi 


V 










1 


Negro: 

VIII.... 














4 5 


VII .. 


















4 5 


VI 




1 














4 


V 














3 3 


White and negro: 

VIII 


31 
19 
21 
11 


33 
28 
16 
11 


16 
20 
10 
10 


21 

23 
8 
2 


7 
8 
6 
2 


6 
9 
1 
1 


3 

2 

1 


"i 

1 


1 
1 


1 


1 




6,7 


VII 


6 1 


VI 








4 9 


V... 










4 3 



















THE DEGREE OF ACCUBACY. 

Obviously the number of problems attempted gives no clue to the 
degree of accuracy ; and this alone, then, is not a fair test of the effi- 
ciency of the work of a system, for educationally it is better to at- 
tempt fewer examples and do them correctly than to try a great 
many but to have a low score in accuracy. To judge fairly, then, 
of the work, the degree of accuracy with which the work is done 
must also be taken into account. The following tables show the 
degree of accuracy attained by the several grades in the four tests. 
In the addition test, for example, of 204 white children in the eighth 
grade 49 of them did not work correctly more than 49 per cent of 
the problems which they attempted; 40 fell within a range of 50 
to 60 per cent right; 32 attained a range of from 60 to 70 per cent 
right ; while the " central tendency " of the class is 64 per cent 
correct. 

Addition test — Percentage of accuracy. 



Total 
papers. 



0-49 per 

cent 
correct 



50 per 

cent 

correct. 



60 per 

cent 

correct. 



70 per 

cent 

correct 



80 per 

cent 

correct. 



90 per 

cent 

correct 



100 per 

cent 
correct. 



Median 
accu- 
racy. 



White: 

VIII 

VII , 

VI 

V 

Negro: 
• VIII 

VII 

VI 

V 

White and Negro; 

VIII , 

VII 

VI 

V 



64.0 
67.0 
64.0 
61.4 

53.3 
65.7 
62.1 
47.5 

61.7 
63.1 
60.0 
56.2 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



145 



Subtraction test — Percentage of accuracy. 



Total 
papers. 



0-49 per 

cent 
correct 



50 per 

cent 

correct 



70 per 

cent 

correct, 



80 per 

cent 

correct, 



90 per 

cent 
correct. 



100 per 

cent 

correct. 



Median 
accu- 
racy. 



White: 

VIII , 

VII 

VI 

V 

Negro: 

vin 

VTI 

VI 

V 

White and Negro: 

VIII 

VII 

VI 

V , 



76.2 
80.0 
76.9 
73.1 

61.8 
58.0 
53.0 
47.4 

71.0 
75.2 
70.0 
60.0 



MultipUcation test — Percentage of accuracy. 



Grades. 


Total 
papers. 


0-49 per 

cent 
correct. 


50 per 

cent , 
correct. 


60 per 

cent 
correct. 


70 per 

cent 

correct. 


80 per 

cent 

correct. 


90 per 

cent 

correct. 


100 per 

cent 
correct. 


Median 
accu- 
racy. 


White: 

vin 


204 
194 
217 
282 

58 
66 
80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
410 


47 
31 

45 
76 

18 
33 
31 
90 

65 
64 
76 
166 


29 
21 
30 
36 

14 
7 
16 
16 

43 

28 
46 
52 


51 
23 
39 
43 

12 
10 
14 
9 

63 
33 
53 
52 


28 
35 
29 
34 

5 
6 
8 
4 

33 
41 

37 
38 


34 
54 
40 
51 

6 
7 
6 
3 

40 
61 
46 
54 


2 
6 
5 

1 






2 
6 
5 
1 


13 
24 
29 
41 

3 
3 

5 
6 

26 
27 
34 
47 




VII . .... 


76.3 


VI 


68 7 


V 


66.7 


Negro: 

Vin 


58.0 


VII 


50 


VI 


55.0 


V 


47.2 


White and Negro: 
VIII 


63 6 


VII 


71.2 


VI 


05. 


V 


.57.5 







Division test — Percentage of accuracy. 



Grades. 


Total 
papers. 


0-49 per 

cent 
correct. 


50 per 

cent 

correct. 


60 per 

cent 

correct. 


70 per 

cent 

correct. 


80 per 

cent 

correct. 


90 per 

cent 

correct. 


100 per 

cent 
correct. 


Median 
accu- 
racy. 


White: 
VIII 


204 
194 
217 

282 

58 
66 
80 
128 

262 
260 
297 
410 


23 
10 
19 
66 

21 
27 
32 
101 

44 
37 
51 
167 


17 
8 
13 

5 
6 
11 
11 

22 
14 
26 
50 


22 
18 
31 
40 

9 
10 
6 
1 

31 

28 
37 
41 


14 
23 
28 
33 

7 
3 
7 
1 

21 
26 
35 
34 


41 
55 
41 
41 

7 
5 

1 

48 
60 
41 
42 


4 
11 

6 

1 

1 





6 
11 
6 
1 


83 
69 
79 
62 

15 
24 
13 

91 

84 
103 

75 


86.3 


VII 


86.9 


VI 


84.4 


V 


69.0 


Negro: 

VIII 




VII 


60.0 


VI 


57.2 


V 


42.7 


White and Negro: 

VIII 


82.7 


VII ... 


84.1 


VI 


80.0 


V 


57.6 







STANDARDS OF COMPARISON. 



The foregoing figures mean very little until they are compared 
and contrasted with recognized standards of achievement. There are 
at hand data gathered through the use of this test extending over a 
76482—18 10 



146 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

period of several years which indicate what other schools are able to 
do in these fundamental operations of arithmetic. These standards 
as summarized by Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly ^ comprise three: (1) 
General median scores based upon the tabulation of many thousands 
of individual scores in tests given in 1915-16; (2) the standards pro- 
posed by Courtis after three years' use of these tests; (3) the median 
scores of the Boston system after the use of the test for three years. 

The table which follows shows the results of the test in Columbia 
compared with these standards and also with the results obtained in 
connection with the survey of the San Francisco schools. 

Columbia in comparison. 

ADDITION. 



















Columbia. 




General 
standard. 


Courtis 
standard. 


Boston. 


San Francisco.i 




























Tlie system. 


Whites. 


Negroes. 


Grades. 
























". 












^ 


f. 




^ 


■fi 




>. 








« 


a 


« 


« 


« 




•« 


S 


'd.r. 


•• 


^ 


■dr, 


n 


J^ 


« 


^ 




1 


1 


1 




1 


< 


1 


1 


J' 


■a 

1 


< 




1 


3 

1 


1 


< 


VIII 


11.6 


76.0 


12 


100 


12 


80 


11.9 


74.8 


8.9 


7.6 


61.7 


4.7 


8.1 


64.0 


6.0 


53. .1 


VII 


10.9 


7.5.0 


11 


100 


11 


80 


9.7 


69.8 


6.8 


7.5 


a3.i 


4.7 


8.0 


67.0 


5.9 


55.7 


VI 


9.8 


7.S. 


10 


100 


10 


70 


10.3 


74.1 


7.6 


6.8 


60.0 


4.0 


7.4 


64.0 


5.2 


.52.1 


V 


8.6 


70.0 


8 


100 


9 


76 


8.2 


75.3 


6.0 


5.8 


56.2 


3.3 


6.4 


61.4 


4.6 


47.5 






SUBTRACTION. 


VIII 


12.9 


87.0 


13 


100 


12 90 


13.9 


90.9 


12. 6 9. 6 


71.0 


6.8 


9.9 


76.2 


8.6 


61.8 


VII 


11.6 


80.0 


12 


100 


11 


90 


12.5 


85.1 


10.7 9.4 


75.2 


7.0 


9.8 




8.7 


,58.0 


VI 


10. 3 


8.^. 


11 


100 


10 


90 


11.4 


84.2 


9.6 8.3 


70.0 


5.8 


9.0 


76.9 


6.3 


.53.0 


V 


9.0 


83.0 


9 


100 


9 


80 


9.1 


82.6 


7. 5 6. 7 


60.0 


4.0 


7.4 


73.1 


5.8 








MULTIPLICATION. 


VIII 


11. .5 


81.0 


jj 


100 


11 


80 


10.5 


76.0 


8.0 


7.0 


63.6 


4.5 


7.8 


6.5.1 


5. 8 


.58.0 


VII 


10.2 


80.0 


10 


1(H) 


10 


80 


9.1 


74.0 


6.7 


7.8 


71.2 


.5.6 


8.3 


76 3 


5 9 


50.0 


VI 


9.1 


78.0 


9 


100 


9 




8.8 


78.7 


6.9 


6.4 


6.5.0 


4.2 


6.8 


(8.7 


4.3 


.55. 6 


V 


7.5 


75.0 


8 


100 


7 


70 


6.8 


66.9 


4.5 


5.6 


57.5 


3.2 


6.2 


66.7 


3.3 


47.2 






DIVISION. 


vm 


10.7 


91.0 


11 


100 


1, 


90 


9.6 


89.2 


8.6 


0.7 


82.7 


.5.5 


7.2 


86.3 


4.5 


a3.3 


VII 


9.6 


90.0 


10 


100 


10 


90 


8.1 


80. 3 


6.5 


6.5 


84.1 


5.5 


7.4 


86.9 


4.5 


60.0 


VI 


8.2 


8/.0 


8 


100 


8 


80 


7.6 


74.7 


.5.7 


4.9 


80. 


3.9 


5 5 


84.4 


4.0 


57.2 


V 


6.1 


77.0 


6 


100 


6 


70 


4.7 


57.0 


2.7 


4.3 


57.6 


2.5 


5.0 




3.3 


42 7 







I From the San Francisco survey. 

' Speed is the number of examples attempted in the prescribed time. 

• Accuracy is the per cent of examples correct. 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COURTIS TEST. 



It will be easier to understand Columbia's showing in this test if 
the essential facts of the preceding table be arranged somewhat dif- 



» Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly. Educational Tests and Measurements, 1917, pp. 38-M. 



IFSUFFICIEN^T MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 



147 



ferently. In the columns headed " General standard " medians are 
given which express the results obtained by Courtis himself in test- 
ing thousands of children in many school systems in various parts of 
the country. To compare the results of the test of the Columbia 
system with this standard the facts may be stated in the following 
way: 

Addition test. 



General standard. 



11.6 



10.1 



The eighth grades attempted 

amples, solving 8.8 examples. 
The seventh grades attempted 

amples, solving 8.1 examples. 
The sixth grades attempted 9.8 examples, 

solving 7.1 examples. 
The fifth grades attempted 8.6 examples, 

solving 6 examples. 



ColumMa system. 

The eighth grades attempted 7.6 examples, 
solving 4.7 examples. 

^The seventh grades attempted 7.5 ex- 
amples, solving 4.7 examples. 

The sixth grades attempted 6.8 examples, 
solving 4 examples. 

The fifth grades attempted 5.8 examples, 
solving 3.3 examples. 



Subtraction test. 



The eighth grades attempted 12.9 ex- 
amples, solving 11.2 examples. 

The seventh grades attempted 11.6 ex- 
amples, solving 9.9 examples. 

The sixth grades attempted 10.3 examples, 
solving 8.8 examples. 

The fifth grades attempted 9 examples, 
solving 7.4 examples. 



The 



The 



eighth grades attempted 9.6 ex- 
ples, solving 6.8 examples, 
seventh grades attempted 9.4 ex- 
3, solving 7 examples. 
The sixth grades attempted 8.3 examples, 

solving 5.8 examples. 
The fifth grades attempted 6.7 examples, 
solving 4 examples. 



Multiplication test. 



11.5 ex- 



10.2 



The eighth grades attempted 

amples, solving 9.3 examples. 
The seventh grades attempted 

amples, solving 8.1 examples. 
The sixth grades attempted 9.1 examples, 

solving 7 examples. 
The fifth grades attempted 7.5 examples, 

solving 5.6 examples. 



The eighth grades attempted 7 examples, 
solving 4.5 examples. 

The seventh grades attempted 7.8 ex- 
amples, solving 5.6 examples. 

The sixth grades attempted 6.4 examples, 
solving 4.2 examples. 

The fifth grades attempted 5.6 examples, 
solving 3.2 examples. 



Division test. 



The eighth grades attempted 10.7 ex- 
amples, solving 9.7 examples. 

The seventh grades attempted 9.6 ex- 
amples, solving 8.6 examples. 

The sixth grades attempted 8.2 examples, 
solving 7.1 examples. 

The fifth grades attempted 6.1 examples, 
solving 4.7 examples. 



The eighth grades attempted 6.7 ex- 
amples, solving 5.5 examples. 

The seventh grades attempted 6.5 ex- 
amples, solving 5.5 examples. 

The sixth grades attempted 4.9 examples, 
solving 3.9 examples. 

The fifth grades attempted 4.3 examples, 
solving 2.5 examples. 

This test has not before been given officially in any city having as 
large a negro population as has Columbia. Consequently it is not 
possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy how far this factor 
operates in affecting the ranking of the city in comparison with other 
cities. The city of Butte, Mont., comes as near being comparable to 
Columbia in size and in general character as any city where the results 
of the test are of record. When the test was given in Butte the city 
had a population somewhat in excess of 40,000. While TO per cent 
of the population was white, it was made up of the foreign bom and 



148 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

those of direct foreign descent. While the characteristics of the 
respective populations of the two cities are totally different, they are 
alike in that they both introduce elements of difficulty in school work. 
A comparison of the results of the test in the two places will be of 
interest, though it would scarcely be fair to either city to consider 
the comparison too seriously. 

The records of the Butte test do not give the number of problems 
attempted; so a comparison can be made on the basis only of the 
number which were correctly solved. This comparison, expressed in 
terms of the median score of each grade, follows : 

Comparison tvith the Butte system in examples correcth/ finished. 





Addition test. 


Subtraction test. 


Multiplication test. 


Division test. 




Butte. 


Colum- 
bia. 


Butte. 


Colum- 
bia. 


Butte. 


Colum- 
bia. 


Butte. 


Colum- 
bia. 


VIII 


5.3 
3.8 
3.4 
2.9 


4.7 
4.7 
4.0 
3.3 


9 8 
7.1 
5.8 
5.5 


6.8 
7.0 
5.8 
4.0 


8.1 

6.5 
5.0 
4.1 


4.5 
5.6 
4.2 
3.2 


10.2 
7.2 
4.3 
3.0 




VII 


5 5 


VI 


3.9 


V 









To show where the weakest spots of the Columbia system are, as 
shown by the Courtis test, a table setting forth the standing made by 
the several schools of the system follows: 



Columbia schools compared. 

ADDITION. 





Examples. 


White schools. 


Negro 
schools. 


Grades. 





d 

1 
1-1 


S 


o3 
Xi 

m 




> 


1 

■3 


^'1 


1 
% 

w 


VIII... 
















8.1 
64.0 


55.0 
4.9 

61.6 
4.0 

42.7 


5.9 
















53.0 


VII.... 


Examples attempted... 




8.3 
66.8 

7.1 
70.0 

6.4 
58.7 


8.1 
66.8 

7.4 
62.7 

7.0 
66.8 


7.3 
65.0 

6.3 
56.4 

5.8 
59.0 


8.4 
67.0 

8.4 
67.5 

6.5 
66.0 


6.9 
75.0 

6.7 
55.0 

6.6 
37.7 


6.2 


Percentage correct 




56.0 


VI 




7.5 
52.5 

5.5 
64.0 


5.4 




50.0 


V 


Examples attempted 


4.8 


Percentage correct . . 


41.6 









SUBTRACTION. 



vm... 
















9.9 
76.2 


5.3 
53.3 

9.9 
53.7 

3.1 
32.0 


8.4 
















57.5 








10.1 
75.3 

9.6 
81.0 

8.0 
77.3 


9.4 

82.6 
9.0 

80.0 
7.1 

74.0 


9.7 
76.2 

9.0 
81.0 

6.7 


8.9 
93.0 

9.1 
68.1 

8.0 
78.3 


10.9 
76.0 

8.0 
65.0 

7.9 
50.0 


9.0 




\ Percentage correct. . . 




59.0 


VI 


/Examples attempted... 


8.3 
75.0 

5.6 
67.5 


6.6 




52.2 






5.4 






38.0 









INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 

MULTIPLICATION. 



149 



VIII.. 
VII... 
VI.... 
V 



{Examples attempted. 
Percentage correct. . . 
I f Examples attempted. 
|\ Percentage correct. . . 
'/Examples attempted. 
|\ Percentage correct. . . 

{Examples attempted. 
Percentage correct. . . 



70.0 
6.2 
64.4 



7.6 
74.3 

6.4 
68.5 

6.3 
77.2 



5.8 
56.1 

6.0 
50.0 

5.0 
58.7 

3.4 
33.0 



















7.2 
86.3 




3.9 
43.6 

3.2 
52.8 

1.7 
35.0 


4.8 


















63.3 


,7TT 


(Examples attempted... 




6.9 
89.1 

5.9 
85.9 

4.7 
7L5 


6.7 
80.9 

5.3 
82.5 

4.7 
60.0 


8.1 
86.1 

7.5 
91.0 

4.5 
65.0 


9.7 
100.0 

5.0 
80.0 

6.2 
70.0 


6.8 
88.3 

4.2 
68.3 

4.5 
37.7 


4.6 




\ L^ercentage correct 




63.0 






4.6 
85.0 

4.2 
68.0 


5.0 






51.5 






2.5 




1 Percentage correct 


30.7 









Granting to principals the time and the authority to supervise the 
work of their schools and holding them responsible for results; 
initiating frequent comparative tests given from time to time by the 
superintendent and supervisors to find out how the work is going; 
devising a methodology for dealing effectively with the drill phases 
of school work; and constructive supervision intelligently exercised, 
will operate to lift this branch of the work of Columbia's system 
speedily to a worthy place among the schools and cities whose attain- 
ments afford a reasonable standard for all. 

C. THE BEASONING TEST IN AEITHMETIO. 

No very satisfactory tests for measuring the ability of pupils to 
solve problems involving reasoning have been devised. The most 
widely used JB that worked out by Stone.^ Stone himself used it in 
testing the 6 A grades of 26 cities. It has been used also in a niun- 
ber of city school surveys ; so that results gotten in many places are 
of record, affording fairly definite standards of what is to be ex- 
pected from its use. The test contain^ 12 problems graduated in 
difficulty and having a varying credit value dependent upon their 
difficulty. The time allowance for the test is exactly 15 minutes. 

While Stone's plan for marking the papers allows credit for 
examples partly right and for examples which are not completed, 
nevertheless, in order that conditions under which the papers are 
marked may not be subject to variation due to the variation in the 
values which different examiners would give such papers, it ha^ been 
the practice in most recent surveys to allow no credit for problems 
which are only partly correct or which are incomplete. Thus, for 
example, in the Butte (Mont.) survey, in the survey of the schools of 
Salt Lake City, in the survey of the schools of San Francisco, and in 

1 stone, C. W. Standardized Reasoning Tests in Arithmetic. Teachers College, Colum- 
bia University. 1916. 



150 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA., SOUTH CAROLINA. 

that of the schools of Janesville, Wis., in each of which the Stone 
test was used, the problems were marked on the basis only of right 
or wrong answers. In order that Columbia might be compared with 
these cities in the results obtained, this method of marking was em- 
ployed. 

The test, with the value given to each problem, follows : 

THE STONE REASONING TEST. 

(Solve as many of the following problems as you have time for; work them in order as 

numbered.) 

1. If you buy 2 tablets at 7 cents each and a book for 65 cents, how much 
change should j'ou receive from a two-dollar bill? (1.0.) 

2. John sold 4 Saturday Evening Posts at 5 cents each. He kept one-half 
the money and with the other half he bought Sunday papers at 2 cents each. 
How many did he buy? (1.0.) 

3. If James had 4 times as much money as George, he would have $16. 
How much money has George? (1.0.) 

4. How many pencils can you buy for 50 cents at the rate of 2 for 5 cents? 
(1.0.) 

5. The uniforms for a baseball nine cost $2.50 each. The shoes cost $2 a 
pair. What was the total cost of uniforms and shoes for the nine? (1.0.) 

6. In the schools of a certain city there are 2,200 pupils ; one-half are in the 
primary grade, one-fourth in the grammar grades, one-eighth in the high 
school, and the rest in the night school. How many pupils are there in the 
night school? (1.4.) 

7. If 3i tons of coal cost $21, what will 5J tons cost? (1.2.) 

8. A news dealer bought some magazines for $1. He sold them for $1.20, 
gaining 5 cents on each magazine. How many magazines were there? (1.6.) 

9. A girl spent one-eighth of her money for car fare, and three times as 
much for clothes. Half of what she had left was 80 cents. How much money 
did she have at first? (2.0.) 

10. Two girls receive $2.10 for making buttonholes. One makes 42, the other 
28. How shall they divide the money? (2.0.) 

11. Mr. Brown paid one-third of the cost of a building; Mr. Johnson paid 
one-half the cost. Mr. Johnson received $500 more annual rent than Mr. 
Brown. How much did he receive? (2.0.) 

12. A freight train left Albany for New York at 6 o'clock. An express train 
left on the same track at 8 o'clock. It went at the rate of 40 miles an hour. 
At what time of day will it overtake the freight train if the freight train stops 
after it has gone 56 miles? (2.0.) 

Results of the reasoning test in white schools. 



Schools and grades. 


Num- 
ber of 
pupils. 


Total 
exam- 

?? 

tempted. 


Total 
exam- 

ri^ht. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
accu- 
racy. 


Total 
credits. 


Aver- 

credits 

per 
pupU. 


Aver- 
age 

exam- 
ples 
at- 
tempted 
per 

pupil. 


Aver- 

exam- 
ples 

right 
per 

pupil. 


Blossom Street School: 

Grade V 


24 
9 


160 
57 


76 
35 


47.5 
61.4 


78.0 
36.2 


3.2 
. 4.0 


6.6 
6.3 




Grade VI 




Grade Vn 






















Total 


33 


217 


111 


51.1 


114.2 


3.4 


6.6 


3 3 




=^ 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 
Results of the reasoning test in white schools — Continued. 



151 



Schools and grades. 



Num- 
ber of 
pupils. 



Total 
exam- 



at- 
tempted. 



Total 
exam- 
ples 
right. 



Per- 
cent- 
age of 
accu- 
racy. 



Total 
credits. 



credits 

per 
pupil- 



Aver- 
age 

exam- 
ples 
at- 
tempted 
per 

pupil. 



Aver- 
age 

exam- 
ples 

right 
per 

pupil. 



Logan School: 

Grade V 

Grade VI.... 
Grade VII... 

Total 

McMaster School: 

Grade V 

Grade VI 

Grade vn... 

Total 

Shandon School: 

Grade V 

Grade VI.... 
Grade VII... 

Total 

Taylor School: 

Grade V 

Grade VI.... 
Grade vn... 

Total 

Waverley School: 

Grade V 

Grade VI.... 
Grade VII... 

Total 

High school: 

Grade VIII. 

Total for all 



67.7 
62.1 
73.3 



294.6 
331.0 
432.0 



3.0 

4.6 
5.9 



45.5 
70.5 
70.0 



202.4 
317.0 
349.2 



2.8 
4.7 

5.8 



1,300 



52.3 
67.0 
66.6 



124.0 
142.8 



64.2 
74.5 



178.2 
247.6 
177.6 



3.3 
4.7 
5.0 



44.0 
77.1 
67.5 



48.4 
58.0 
120.0 



5,971 



4,302.8 



Results of the reasoning test in negro schools. 



Schools and grades. 


Num- 
ber of 
pupDs. 


Total 
exam- 
ples 
at- 
tempted. 


Total 
exam- 
ples 
right. 


Per- 
cent- 
age of 
accu- 
racy. 


Total 
credits. 


Aver- 

credits 

per 
pupil. 


Aver- 
age 

exam- 
ples 
at- 
tempted 
per 

pupil. 


Aver- 
age 
exam- 
right 
per 
pupil. 


Booker T. Washmgton School: 
Grade V 


38 
35 
13 


124 
140 
82 


82 
92 
57 


50.0 
65.7 
69.5 


65.0 
108.5 
59.8 


1.7 
3.1 
4.6 


3.2 
4.0 
6.3 


l.« 


Grade VI 


2.6 


Grade VII. . 


4.4 






Total 


86 


346 


211 


60.9 


233.3 


2.7 


4.0 


2.4 






Howard School: 
Grade V 


86 
44 
48 
58 


388 
235 
251 
266 


89 

99 
148 
180 


23.0 
42.1 
58.9 
67.6 


89.0 
101.4 

148.8 
185.7 


1.0 
2.3 
3.1 
3.2 


4.5 

5.3 
5.2 
4.6 


1.0 


Grade VI 


2.2 


Grade VII 


3.1 


Grade VIII 


3.1 






Total 


236 


1,140 


516 


45.2 


524.9 


2.2 


4.8 


2.1 






Total for all 


322 


1,486 


727 


48.9 


758.2 


2.3 


4.6 


2.2 







152 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Columbia schools compared in average examples per pupil attempted and right} 





White schools. 


Negro schools. 


All 
white 
schools. 


All 

negro 
schools. 




Grades. 


Blos- 
som 
Street. 


Logan. 


Mc- 
Master. 


Shan- 
don. 


Tay- 
lor. 


Wav- 
erley. 


High 
School. 


Book- 
er T. 

Wash- 
ing- 
ton. 


How- 
ard. 


The 
entire 

sys- 
tem. 


Fifth grade 

Sixth .grade.... 
Seventh grade. . 


/ 6.6 

t 3.1 

f 6.3 

4.0 


4.5 
3.0 
7.5 
4.6 
8.0 
5.9 


6.0 
2.8 
6.9 
4.7 
8.2 
5.8 


4.7 
2.4 
7.0 
4.7 
9.1 
6.1 


5.9 
3.3 
7.3 
4.7 
6.6 
6.0 


5.7 
2..S 
6.3 
4.7 
7.7 
5.2 


....... 

'"6.'4' 
5.0 


3.2 
1.6 
4.0 
2.6 
6.3 
4.4 


4.5 
1.0 
5.3 
2.2 
5.2 
3.1 
4.6 
3.1 


5.4 
2.9 
7.1 
4.7 
7.9 
5.6 
6.4 
5.0 


4.1 
1.2 
4.7 
2.4 
5.4 
3.3 
4.6 
5.0 


5.0 
2.4 
6.5 
4.0 
7.3 
5.1 


Eighth grade... 




















6.4 
4.4 












.■Vll grades.. 


/ 6.6 
\ 3.3 


7.0 
3.8 


6.5 
4.0 


6.6 
4.2 


6.6 
4.0 


6.4 
5.0 


4.0 
2.4 


4.8 
2.1 


6.6 
4.3 


4.6 
2.2 


6.1 
3.7 



The upper figures show the number attempted; the lower, the number right. 
Columbia schools compared in average accuracy.^ 





White schools. 


Negro schools. 


All 
white 
schools. 


All 
negro 
schools. 




Grades. 


Blos- 
som 
Street. 


Logan. 


Mc- 
Master. 


Shan- 
don. 


Tay- 
lor. 


Wav- 
erley. 


High 
School. 


Book- 
er T. 
Wash- 
ing- 
ton. 


How- 
ard. 


The 
entire 

sys- 
tem. 


Fifth grade 

Sixth grade 

Seventh grade.. 


47.5 
61.4 


67.7 
62.1 


45.5 
70.5 
70.0 


67! b 
66.6 


56.6 
64.2 
74.5 


44.0 
77.1 
67.5 


""78.'5' 


50.0 
65.7 
69.5 


23.0 
42.1 
58.9 
67.6 


54.2 
65.7 
71.1 

78.5 


29.5 
50.9 
61.5 
67.6 


48.1 
62.9 
69.4 


















All grades.. 


51.1 


67.9 


54.0 


62.1 


64.1 


6L8 


78.5 


60.9 


45.2 


65.1 


48.9 


61.9 



' Shown by the percentage of attempts which were right. 

Columbia schools compared in credits' received.^ 





White schools. 


Negro schools. 


All 
white 
schools. 


All 
negro 
schools. 




Grades. 


Blos- 
som 
Street. 


Logan. 


Mc- 
Master. 


Shan- 
don. 


Tay- 
lor. 


Wav- 
erley. 


High 
School. 


Book- 
er T. 
Wash- 
ing, 
ton. 


How- 
ard. 


The 
entire 

sys- 
tem. 


Fifth grade 

Sixth grade 

Seventh grade 


3.2 
4.0 


3.3 
5.0 
6.4 


2.9 
5.1 
6.4 


2.5 
5.0 
7.1 


3.4 
5.0 
5.3 


2.5 
5.2 
6.0 


""b.\' 


1.7 
3.1 
4.6 


1.0 
2.3 
3.1 
3.2 


3.0 
5.0 
6.3 
5.4 


1.2 
2.6 
3.4 
3.2 


2.5 
4.4 
5.6 






4.9 


















All grades. . 


3.4 


4.7 


4.7 


4.4 


4.5 


4.5 


5.4 


2.7 


2.2 


4.7 


2.3 


4.1 



> Grade averages only are given. 



INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE AND SUPERVISION. 153 

Columhia compared with other cities in average credits per pupil. 





V grades. 


VI grades. 


VII grades. 


VIII grades. 


Cities. 


Median 
pupil. 


Average 

per 

pupil. 


Median 
pupil. 


Average 

per 

pupil. 


Median 
pupil. 


Average 

per 

pupil. 


Median 
pupil. 


Average 

per 

pupil. 


Janesville, Wis. (15,000 pop.). 
Butte, Mont. (40,000 pop.) . . . 
Salt Lake City 


2.40 
2.20 
3.70 
2.85 


2144 
4.03 
2.40 

3.0 

2.b 


3.4 
3.9 
6.4 
5.52 


2.93 
4.24 
6.46 
4.06 

5.0 
2.6 
4.4 


5 50 
5.80 
8.60 
5.40 


5.20 
5.95 

4:96 

6.3 
3.4 
5.6 


6.3 

7.7 
10.5 
6.8 


6.48 

7.83 
10 44 




6.43 


Columibia: 

White pupils 


5.4 


Neero dudIIs. 










3 2 


Soth 










4 9 















OBSERVATIONS ON THE REASONING TEST. 



Such a test as this throws light on two important phases of the 
arithmetic work of the schools, the rate of speed with which chil- 
dren work, and the accuracy of their work. Given the number of 
pupils in the classes and the nuijiber of examples attempted, and 
the average rate per pupil can easily be found. Given, in addi- 
tion, the number of examples solved correctly, and the average of 
accuracy for classes, for grades, for schools, and for the entire system 
can be determined. The preceding tables show these facts for 
Columbia. 

Based upon his experience in giving this test in 26 representative 
city school systems, Stone suggests the following as a tentative stand- 
ard of accomplishment for the several grades:^ 

Of the fifth-grade pupils 80 per cent should reach or exceed 5.5 
credits with 75 per cent accuracy. 

Of the sixth-grade pupils 80 per cent should reach or exceed 6.5 
credits with 80 per cent accuracy. 

Of the seventh-grade pupils 80 per cent should reach or exceed 
7.5 credits with 85 per cent accuracy. 

Of the eighth-grade pupils 80 per cent should reach or exceed 90 
per cent accuracy. 

Judged by the standard set by Stone, the result of the test in the 
Columbia schools is disappointing in the credits received, in the 
number of problems attempted, and in the percentage of accuracy 
reached by the several grades. While Stone would allow credit for 
problems partly correct and partly finished, a method of grading 
not adopted by the committee, for reasons already mentioned, yet 
it was found in grading the papers that Stone's method would not 
have increased the averages except in very slight degree. 

When, however, Columbia is compared with other cities in which 
the test has been given, wherein the same method of marking papers 
was employed, she appears to very much better advantage. 

» stone, C. W. Standardized Beasoning Tests in Arithmetic, p. 21. 



154 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Considering the score in average credits made by the white chil- 
dren alone, it is seen that the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades of 
the Columbia schools excel the corresponding grades of all of the 
cities of the preceding table except those of Salt Lake City. The 
eighth grade of Columbia, however, is the lowest of the eighth 
grades in all of the cities of the list. In this connection it should 
be pointed out that the eighth grade in Columbia is classed as a 
high-school grade and receives no formal instruction in arithmetic, 
although work is given in high-school mathematics. In the other 
cities of the list the eighth grades are in the elementary division of 
schools and probably receive definite drill in arithmetical processes. 

When the Columbia system as a whole is compared with the entire 
systems of the cities of the list, the relative rank is, of course, not 
so high, for the poor success with which the negro schools met the 
test lowers the rating for the city considerably. Even with the 
negroes included, however, an examination of the preceding table 
will show that with the exception of the eighth grade all grades of 
the Columbia schools excelled the corresponding grades of the l9an 
Francisco schools. 

By making reference to the foregoing tables, especially to those in 
which the several schools of the system are compared, information 
can be secured which will show where special work needs to be 
done in order that the several schools and grades may be brought 
up to a higher standard of excellence. 



VI.— THE HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM COMPARES 
FAVORABLY WITH THAT OF OTHER SYSTEMS. 



Though many children fail to enter school, and, for reasons for 
which a system can not be held responsible, many withdraw after 
entering, nevertheless, in general, the drawing power of a given sys- 
tem, and its holding power as well, are legitimate criteria for judg- 
ing, in part at least, of its efficiency. 

THE ACCURACY OF THE COLUMBIA SCHOOL CENSUS. 

The Columbia school census, taken in February, 1918, shows that 
there are, between the ages of 6 and 21, a total of 7,938 children, of 
whom 4,898 are whites and 3,040 are negroes. Studies show that the 
ratio which the young people of these ages bear to the entire popu- 
lation is nearly constant among cities of the same general type 
throughout the country. According to the United States Census 
for 1910 this ratio in Chicago was 27.2 per cent; in Cleveland, 26.9 
per cent; in Detroit, 26.4 per cent; in Pittsburgh, 27.5 per cent; 
and in St. Louis, 26.4 per cent. Corresponding figures for other 
cities of the same approximate characteristics and for other censuses 
run about the same. Thus, for example, Columbia's total popula- 
tion in 1910 was 26,319, while the children of the ages of 5 to 19, 
inclusive, numbered 7,125, or 27 per cent of the total, practically the 
same as that of other cities. If this ratio holds good to-day, and no 
reason is apparent why it should have changed materially during 
the time which has intervened, then, based on the school census re- 
turns, the present population of Columbia would not reach 30,000, 
The Census Bureau, however, credited Columbia with a population 
in 1915 of 34,058, determined by a method of estimating the growth 
of cities, which gives the minimum possibility rather than the maxi- 
mum. By this same method of estimating growth, Columbia should 
have a population in 1918 of at least 39,0(X). If the same ratio be- 
twe«i school age and total population holds now, tiien the school 
census should show at least 10,500 names, as against 7,938 actually 
enumerated. 

A check on this conclusion can be gotten in this way: In 1910, 
according to the Federal statistics, 53.2 per cent of the children of 
Columbia 6 to 20 years of age were in school. In 1917 the total 
school enrollment reported by the school authorities was 6,104. If 
the ratio between those in and out of school is the same as in 1910, 

155 



156 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

the school census should show a total between the ages of 6 and 20 
of about 11,500 children. While the proportion of children now in 
school as compared with those not enrolled may be somewhat greater 
than in 1910, due to an increased community interest in education, 
nevertheless, as no attempt has been made to enforce the act provid- 
ing for compulsory school attendance of all of the ages of 8 to 14, in- 
clusive, it is unlikely that this change in ratio is sufficient to affect 
the estimate seriously. It would seem, therefore, that had the school 
census enumerators succeeded in getting the names of all the children 
the list would have shown that there are now in Columbia at least 
10,500 children between the ages of 6 and 21. 

Still another check on this estimate of the number of children in 
Columbia between the ages of 6 and 21 can be employed. The 
Federal Census of 1910 shows that, of the children in Columbia be- 
tween the ages of 6 and 14, 74 per cent were attending school, public 
and private. The 1917 school report of Columbia shows that in the 
public schools alone there were enrolled in the first eight grades, 
corresponding to the age period of 6 to 14 years, a total of 5,707 
pupils. If the same percentage holds good, then this number is 74 
per cent of the actual number of pupils in the city of these ages. 
That is to say, on the basis of this reasoning there should be about 
7,700 pupils in Columbia between the ages of 6 and 14. According 
to the school census, however, there are only about 5,300, a num- 
ber which is about one-third short of what should be expected. 
Furthermore, it must be remembered that there are quite a number of 
children of these ages in private and parochial schools, which would 
operate to increase the expectancy rather than decrease it. 

But the final reason for thinking that the school census recently 
taken has fallen short of an enumeration of all of the children lies 
in the fact that in 1910 the Federal Census credits Columbia, with 
7,272 children between tlie ages of 6 and 20 and 2,570 under 5 years, 
whereas the school census gives but 7,938 children for the age period 
of 6 to 21, inclusive, one year longer, and 3,596 for the period below 
6 ; also one year longer than the division made by the Federal Census 
enumerators. That is, during the time which has elapsed since the 
Federal Census was taken, eight years, according to the school census 
there has been an increase, in the one case, of but 666 and of only 
1,026 in the other. Part of this apparent increase, too, it must be 
remembered, is due to the fact that each period compared is one year 
longer in the case of the local school census. Columbia has surely 
grown more rapidly during the past eight years than these differences 
would indicate. 

Looking at the matter, then, from all angles, it would seem a con- 
servative conclusion that any discussion of Columbia's school prob- 



HOLDING POWER OP THE SYSTEM. 



157 



lems which is based on data secured through the local school census 
should take into account an increase of about one-third in the totals 
therein given. 

THE superintendent's OPINION, 

Supt. Dreher does not think there is an error in the census in excess 
of 2 per cent. Speaking of the population of Columbia, he says : 

The population of Columbia in round numbers increased from 21,000 to 26,000 
in the decade from 1900 to 1910, which shows an annual increase of 500. In 
the fall of 1915 Dr. S. B. Fishburne, health officer of the city, compiled a census 
record made out by men who were at work with him and who made house-to- 
house inspections in connection with their duties, and therefore have had ex- 
perience in collecting data. Their figures gave 31,000 (exact 30.976) and a 
school iwpulation of 6,196. Here, again, we have an increase of 1,000 a year. 
During this period, however, Shandon, Waverley, and North Columbia were 
annexed, which probably accounts for an increase of 500 a year over the decade 
before. 

In view of these figures I am unable to see how our population has increased 
from 26,000 in 1910 to 40,000 in 1918. My school reports for the past few years 
are based on 35,000, and my opinion is that this figure is more nearly correct 
than 40,000, although well-informed men here say that we have 40,000 in the 
city limits. 

In regard to the accuracy of the school census I wish to say that I could 
scarcely select men who are more capable of making accurate returns than 
the men who did the work for us in March. Six of them were our own prin- 
cipals and high-school teachers, who were assigned to their own districts where 
possible ; two others had been working in the post office for a number of years 
and understand clerical details thoroughly ; the third was a man who was 
formerly in the retail furniture business on the installment plan, and therefore 
went all over the city in connection with his work. Again, this census was not 
rushed at all in view of the fact that the schools were closed and no pressure 
was brought upon the men to get through on a definite schedule time. They 
made return visits time and time again to get the information from homes that 
were previously unaccounted for. Doubtless some children were overlooked, 
but I can never bring myself to believe that as many as 8,500 were not 
enumerated. 

A summary of the school census returns distributed as to race, age, 
sex, and attendance districts follows: 

Age distribution of white children in school — School census. 



Waverley 

Shandon 

Taylor 

Logan 

McMaster 

Blossom Street 

Total.... 



Boys, 



1,750 1,993 3,743 



10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 



18 19 20 21 (1) 



> Age not known. 



158 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 
Age distribution of white children not in school — School census. 



Schools. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


To- 
tal. 


Ages. 


To- 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


(>) 


tal. 




63 

42 
111 

164 
124 
120 


37 

105 
167 
109 
81 


100 
74 
216 
331 
233 
201 


s 

4 
7 

20 
17 
10 


12 

3 

40 
34 
37 
23 


2 

» 
13 
20 
8 


1 

1 
3 
7 
9 
6 




2 
6 

7 
5 
4 


4 
21 
2 
8 
2 




2 
1 

4 
5 
4 




5 
9 
6 
6 


3 

1 
5 
13 

» 
13 


3 

9 
20 

6 
20 


9 
2 

23 
40 
15 

24 


12 
5 
18 
37 
25 
16 


14 
5 
22 
51 
33 


15 
5 
32 
24 
18 
10 


12 
18 
25 
40 
21 
18 


7 

5 
3 
6 
8 


1 
3 
5 
1 

2 


100 




74 




216 




331 


McMaster . . 


233 


Blossom Street 


201 




624 


531 


1,155 


66 


149 


51 


27 


24 


46 


16 


26 


43 


55 


113 


113 


145 


104 


134 


31 


12 


1,155 







1 Age not known. 

Age distribution of negro children in school — School census. 



Schools. 


1 

P5 


3 


1 


Ages. 




6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


■= 


13 


14 


15 


16 


.7 

24 
1 
9 


18 

12 

8 
6 
6 

10 


19 

8 

1 
2 
2 
2 


20 

3 





5 


21 




1 

4 

1 


(I) 


1 


Waverlev 


196 
7 
71 
170 
274 
230 


298 
8 
88 
209 
386 
320 


494 
15 

159 
379 
660 
550 


7 


20 
33 
9 


38 

1 
10 
32 
52 
56 


41 

i 

74 
63 


55 

6 
49 
61 
60 


58 
1 
16 
44 

84 
58 


37 
2 
16 
61 
86 
65 


I 

32 
69 
58 


45 

19 
27 
52 
53 


37 
3 

27 
31 


41 

12 
24 
45 
3;^ 


1 
10 
15 
25 
21 




494 




15 




159 


Logan 


379 


McMaster 


660 




550 








Total 


« 


1,309 


2,257 


m 


189 


221 


?31 


?fi1 


266 


216 


,96 


I94I154 


111 


. 


42 


■5 


10 


6 


13 


2,257 

















1 Age not known. 
Age distribution of negro children not in school — School census. 





1 
pa 

64 
4 
39 

84 
109 
93 


1 
3 

81 
4 
31 
63 
114 
97 


-i 

Eh 

145 
8 
70 
147 
223 
190 


Ages. 






6 

1 


7 
18 
3 


7 

14 
3 
4 
6 

17 
9 

I2 


8 

6 

4 
4 

J 

26 


9 

3 

3 
2 
5 
1 

I4 


10 

3 

6 
3 
6 
4 

"22 


11 

2 

1 
2 
2 

9 


12 

2 

\ 

1 
7 
3 


13 

4 

6 
9 
16 
7 


14 

5 

\ 
9 
23 
13 

li 


15 

8 


21 

7 
10 

To 


16 

6 

6 
26 
30 
25 

1, 


17 

22 
1 
2 

15 

26 
I7 


18 

18 
2 
11 
21 
33 
22 


19 

22 
1 
5 

10 
6 


20 
I 

30 
~T2 


21 

12 


1 

12 
6 

H 


1 

5 
1 
2 
2 

11 


'i 


Waverley 


145 




8 




70 


Logan 


147 


McMaster 


991 


Blossom Street 


190 






Total 


393,390 


19 


42 


107 


„ 


783 











' Agb not known. 
Summary of the school census (6-21). 











Ages. 








To- 




6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


0) 


tal. 


Whites: 


35 
66 


182 
149 


376 
51 


396 

27 


X 


384 
46 


364 
16 


336 

26 


348 
43 


255 

55 


239 
113 


143 
113 


108 
145 


78 
104 


.. 


7 
31 


33 
12 


3,743 
1,155 


Not in school 


Total 


101 


331 


427 


4?3 


428 


430 


380 


362 


391 


310 


352 


256 


253 


182 189 


38 


45 


4,898 


Negroes: 
In school 






69 
29 


189 
52 


'11 


231 
14 


261 
22 


266 
9 


216 
19 


196 
42 


194 
54 


154 
50 


111 
93 


63 

87 


42 
107 


15 

65 


10 
72 


6 


13 
11 


2 257 


Not in school 


'783 


Total 


98 


241 


247 


245 


283 


275 


235 


238 


248 


204 


204 


150 


■« 


80 


82 


37 


24 








Grand total 


m 


5721 674j 668 


711 


705 


615 


600 




m 


556 


406 


« 


262 


271 


75 


69 


7,938 



> Age not known. 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 



159 





Children under 6 years of age- 


-School 


census. 








Schools. 


WMtes. 


Negroes. 




Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Total. 




92 
101 
220 
313 
239 
243 


76 
92 
222 
352 
242 
217 


168 
193 
442 
665 
481 
460 


136 
3 
30 
101 
171 
158 


132 
1 
32 

164 
170 


268 


Shandon 


4 


Taylor 


62 




190 


McMaster... 


335 


Blossom Street 










Total 


1,208 


1,201 


2,409 


599 


588 


1,187 







■ THE COMPULSORY SCHOOL-ATTENDANCE LAW. 

In 1876 the Legislature of South Carolina passed a compulsory 
school-attendance law, applicable only to the city of Columbia and 
the County of Charleston, which required all persons within these 
limits to keep their children between 8 and 16 in school. This law 
was never enforced. 

In recent years attempts have been made to get an attendance law 
passed for the State at large, but all efforts failed until 1915, when 
the general assembly passed a local-option law, which provides that 
the attendance of all children between the ages of 8 and 14, inclusive, 
in those districts adopting the measure, shall be compulsory under 
penalty of fine and imprisonment and which requires also that boards 
of trustees of districts adopting the act shall take a school census 
annually. 

Not much interest was taken by the citizens of Columbia in the 
matter, for when the question of the adoption of the measure came 
before the people only 58 votes were cast; 57 of these favored the 
law, however, which shows that it caused no active opposition. Be- 
yond the preliminary step of taking the school census, necessary in 
order that the nature of the problem may be better understood, the 
board has, as yet, not attempted to enforce the law. 

That there is grave need for such a law and for its rigid enforce- 
ment is disclosed by the report of illiteracy among the pupils in 
Columbia who are of school age and who are not attending school. 
These returns were secured by the enumerators who took the recent 
school census. It may be added that, in interpreting what it means 
to be able to " read and write," the enumerators were instructed that 
the ability to write one's name and to read a simple sentence would 
satisfy the conditions. The following table shows the facts, as given 
by the school census : 



160 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Illiterates between 6 and 21. years of age not in school. 



Schools. 


WUtes 
vmable to 
read and 

write. 


Negroes 

unable to 

read and 

write. 


Wa verley •-. - •-- • • 


24 
24 
36 
47 
73 
48 


3» 




s 




22 




14 


McMaster 


58 


Blossom Street - 


43 








Total 


252 


181 







PUPILS OF COMPULSORY AGE NOT IN SCHOOL. 

Tables on page 158 show that there are 233 white children and 186 
negio children of compulsory age, 8-14, who are not in school. If to 
these figures those of the sixth and seventh years who are not 'in school 
be added, the total would stand: White children, 448; negro chil- 
dren, 267. These figures would indicate that quite as large a propor- 
tion of negro children of these ages are in school as of the whites, 
which is surprising in view of local conditions. A check on the ac- 
curacy of these returns, however, can be obtained by comparing the 
census returns with the enrollment of pupils as shown by the school 
records. This comparison is shown in the following table: 

Age distribution of pupils enrolled in school compared with census totals. 



School population. 


Ages. 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 


0) 


AVhites: 


101 
66 
35 

121 



331 
313 
18 

241 
154 

87 


427 
414 
13 

247 
204 
43 


423 
382 
41 

245 
210 
35 


428 
363 
65 

283 
246 
37 


430 
361 
69 

275 
191 

84 


380 
326 
54 

235 
162 
73 


362 
333 
29 

238 
219 
19 


391 
256 
135 

248 
165 


310 
216 
94 

204 
157 

47 


352 
136 
216 

204 
76 
128 


256 
69 
187 

150 
54 
96 


253 
35 
218 

"i 

120 


182 



182 

80 
2 

78 


189 



189 

82 
2 
80 


38 

38 

37 

37 


4') 


Enrolled 





Not in school 


45 


Negroes: 




Enrolled .. . 





Not in school 


24 






Total not in school 


35 


105 


56 


76 


102 


153 


127 


48 


218 


141 


a« 


283 j338 260 


269 


75 


69 



I Age not known. 

This table shows that of the children of the years 6 to 14 reported 
by the census, there are 459 white children and 461 negro children 
who are not in the public schools. That is to say, the census report 
as to the number of white children who are not in school checks up 
with the school reports, whereas in the case of the negro children 
it would appear that many parents have reported that their children 
were in school when, as a matter of fact, they were not. This is not 
surprising when it is recognized that many of the negro parents are 
ignorant and that they may have misunderstood the purpose of the 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 161 

census enumerators in asking for this information. It would seem, 
therefore, in considering the housing problem confronting the board, 
that it will be safer to conclude that in the enforcement of the at- 
tendance of all of the ages of 6 to 14, provision will have to be made 
for an increase of about 450 children of each race. If the census 
returns should be increased a third, as the committee believes should 
be done to correct the census, then these figures would reach approxi- 
mately 600 each. 

ADDITIONAL ROOMS AND TEACHERS KEQinRED. 

It is clear, then, that a strict enforcement of the attendance law 
would necessitate enlarging the department by 25 or 30 rooms at 
least, entailing the addition of as many teachers to the corps. Con- 
solidations of small classes in certain schools could be effected, how- 
ever, which would somewhat lessen the requirement. 

The following table shows how these rooms should be distributed 
in order that the white pupils would be best accommodated : 

White children 6 to 14 'n^t in school, distributed hy attendance districts, accord- 
ing to school census. 



' Schools. 


Children 
not in 
school. 


Additional 

rooms 
required. 




30 
34 
77 
115 
109 
83 








Taylor 




Losan ^ 




McMasVer . 




Blossom Street and Granby 


2 









Total 


448 


12 


: 





A PLAN TO CARE FOR THE GROWTH OF THE SYSTEM. 

To meet this situation, the committee recommends that the present 
system of seven grades in the elementary division and four grades 
in the high school be changed to a grouping of grades wherein the 
elementary division shall be limited to the first six years of the 
school course; the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of the entire 
city be brought together at a central point, forming a junior high 
school; and the present high-school grades be extended to embrace 
the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years, to be called the senior high 
school. Such a plan, ideally, calls for a junior high-school building, 
which should be at or near the geographical center of the city, near 
car lines which reach every part of the city, and yet at a point suffi- 
ciently removed from the senior high school so that the organization, 
the activities, and the entire school machinery shall be kept separate 
and distinct. 

76482—18 11 



162 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

A division of the pupils of a system into these three groups, sepa- 
rating them in all of their school activities, is an arrangement vehich 
educationally can be abundantly justified. 

Congregating the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades would, in Co- 
lumbia, take the seventh grade out of the elementary schools, thus 
removing the older boys and girls from the young children. This 
will be an advantage to both, for with the limited playground that 
obtains in many schools either the older children are prohibited from 
plajang the rough games which their natures crave and their muscles 
demand, or else through fear of bodily injury the little children are 
crowded to one side and fail to secure that opportunity for free exer- 
cise without restraint that they most need. Furthermore, through 
such segregation the attention of the principal and teachers can be 
better centered upon the needs of these young children without being 
diverted to the difficult problems of management, of instruction, and 
of control which the adolescent child of necessity raises. Too fre- 
quently in many schools of the traditional organization the difficul- 
ties and problems of the older children absorb the attention of the 
principal and his faculty, to the neglect of the younger children, and 
in consequence in many places serious weakness is to be found in the 
early period of school life. 

ADVANTAGES OF THE JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. 

By bringing the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades together at a 
central point it will be possible for the school department to offer to 
the pupils in such grades a choice in the subjects of study. In the 
usual ward school it would obviously be impossible to offer any option, 
for as one proceeds upward in the grades of the system the attend- 
ance falls off rapidly. The seventh grade, therefore, is always very 
much smaller than preceding grades, and in many schools it is barely 
large enough to maintain two classes. From the standpoint of ex- 
pense alone, therefore, it would not be practicable to offer to the 
seventh grade, scattered as it is among a number of schools, a variety 
of choice in subjects to be studied. Such opportunity can be pro- 
vided only where a sufficient number of pupils are grouped together 
to make each class large enough to justify the assignment of a teacher. 
There can be little question that by the time young people have 
reached the upper grades of the grammar schools their tastes, apti- 
tudes, and abilities are sufficiently developed to warrant giving them 
an opportunity for the exercise of some preference in the selection of 
subjects to be studied. An organization of the school system whereby 
such grades are brought together in numbers is the only arrangement, 
within reasonable limits of expense, through which this variety can be 
secured. 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 163 

By bringing together in this way a number of pupils of the ages 
and attainments of those of the seventh and eighth grades, the prin- 
cipal and his faculty have an opportunity of initiating a splendid 
work through the student-body organization that can thereby be 
formed. Such an arrangement provides the opportunity for develop- 
ing the social consciousness of the individual and through it teach- 
ing him how to conduct himself among his fellows, and at an age 
when the instinct for establishing social relationships runs high. 
Perhaps no lesson is of greater practical value to the individual than 
that of learning how to get on with his fellows without compromising 
his principles and standards. The activities coming naturally 
through participation in a live student-body organization provide 
unusual opportunities for teaching such lessons concretely, naturally, 
and therefore effectively. Furthermore, by means of a student-body 
organization high standards of conduct and character can be secured 
and a general school morale developed as in no other way. It has 
been found, too, that a measure of student government can be intro- 
duced in conjunction with such a plan, with advantage to those who 
participate in the work and with beneficial reaction upon the tone of 
the school. It has been observed that students in the junior high 
school who, by means of such activities, develop confidence in them- 
selves very quickly make their influence felt in the student body of 
the senior high school when that school is reached. Thus, with such 
an internal organization of the students as this plan provides, a 
hitherto unsuspected and undeveloped field exists wherein can be 
secured highly significant results of a very practical character. 

MEN TEACHERS NEEDED IN THE SCHOOLS. 

Again, a segmentation of the divisions of the public-school system, 
in accordance with such a plan, fully justifies the paying of high- 
school salaries to all teachers in the junior school group who have 
certificates of high-school grade. Where this is done, it becomes 
possible to command the services of young men who are college 
graduates and who are willing to enter these grades as teachers and 
to remain therein for a time. The customary arrangement, wherein 
the seventh or the seventh and eighth grades are grouped with the 
elementary division, and wherein the elementary school schedule 
only applies, offers no inducement to such men. In consequence, in 
most communities throughout the United States the sorry fact is 
that generations of boys and girls are passing through the entire 
elementary period of school life without at any time ever having 
come under the influence of a male teacher. It frequently happens, 
therefore, that a child is never under the instruction of a man until 
he reaches the high school, and as nearly three-fourths of the school 
population of the land never enter the high school, it is clear that 



164 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

the criticism that our school system is tending toward a feminization 
of the children is a just one. In Columbia this danger has been par- 
tially met by requiring the principals to teach part or all time. 
This is an unsatisfactory arrangement, however, for it eliminates 
them from the work of supervision, to which they ought to be devot- 
ing much of their thought and attention. 

THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. 

Then, through such a grouping as this plan proposes, it would seem 
that the work of the senior high school could be made more intensive 
than it usually is, with higher standards of scholarship and more 
rigid requirements than universally obtain, and this without working 
a hardship upon the young people who enter the school ; for it would 
seem that if the work in the junior high school be carefully and effi- 
ciently done the incoming students will develop a much more serious 
attitude toward their work, and will have oriented themselves better 
and more quickly in their subjects. 

Moreover, the pupils entering the senior high school will have de- 
veloped in the junior high school a greater cohesion than obtains 
under the old form of organization. Under the customary plan, 
pupils dribble into the high school in small numbers and from many 
schools. They are lacking in anything approaching community feel- 
ing or a feeling of group responsibility. They have had no ex- 
perience in organized action and are not conscious of their individual 
responsibility in personally contributing to the establishment of a 
student-body sentiment that shall be high and lofty in its purpose 
and influence. 

In consequence, it is difficult for the student body of the school 
to assimilate such pupils properly and completely, and if the existing 
school morale be low, these incomers are in no way fitted to lift it. 
With two or three years of community life at the junior high-school 
center wherein the administrative methods are shaped to develop 
this responsibility, the pupils would necessarily enter the senior high 
school at a much higher level with respect to school standards than 
obtains under the present procedure. 

THE JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL BUILDING. 

While the ideal plan undoubtedly is to provide a separate plant 
for the pupils of the junior high school, and while the majority of 
cities employing this form of organization have provided for such 
separation, yet in places where the local situation prevents, various 
makeshifts have been resorted to. In some instances the junior 
and senior high schools are housed in the same building, in other 
instances the junior high school is assigned to rooms in a ward school 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 



165 



building, and in still other instances the junior high-school building, 
while kept separate from the building which houses the senior high 
school, stands on the same plat of ground. This latter plan, which is 
educationally the least objectionable of the alternatives, would be, for 
Columbia, doubtless, the least expensive, for there is sufficient space 
on the present high-school site for such a building. It would mean, 
however, decreasing in a material way the ground needed for the 
activities of the playground. 

One inmiediate effect of providing a junior high school would be 
the setting free of rooms in each of the elementary schools and in 
the high school, sufficient in number, doubtless, to care for the nor- 
mal growth of the department, in all of its divisions, for several 
years. All of the claims, it should be added, which can be made for 
the junior high school for white children would apply with equal 
force to the negroes. 

CARE FOR THE GROWTH OF THE NEGRO SCHOOL POPULATION. 

The situation as to the negro children of 6 to 14 years of age 
follows : 

Negro children 6 to 14 distributed iy attendance districts — Local census. 



Reported 
in school. 



Reported 
not in 
school. 



Waverley 

Shandon. 

Taylor 

Logan 

Me Master 

Blossom Street and Granby 



403 
15 
151 

365 



From 8 to 12 additional rooms, depending upon the accuracy of 
the census returns, would be needed to take care of the negro children 
not now in school but who would come under the operation of the 
attendance law if it were enforced. This problem is bound up 
with the larger problem of caring for the negro children as a whole, 
and can best be viewed in conjunction therewith. 

At present there are but two school plants in Columbia for the 
negroes — the Howard School, a combined elementary and high 
school, with a principal and 23 teachers; and the Booker T, Wash- 
ington School, for elementary grade pupils, with a principal and 
12 teachers. In these two schools there was an enrollment in 1917 
of 2,237 pupils which averages more than 60 children per teacher, a 
condition wherein it is impossible for teachers to do anything like 
satisfactory work. 



166 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CABOLINA. 

The Booker T. Washington School has a modern building, recently 
completed, which is a credit to the city, but the Howard School 
building is a disgrace and should be replaced by a modern structure. 

It would seem that a wise program for future consummation would 
comprise the following steps : 

1. Replace the Howard building with a modern building or build- 
ings, planned to house a group of pupils comprising the first six 
grades and a second group comprising the seventh, eighth, and 
ninth grades only. 

2. Equip and occupy the rooms in the Booker T. Washington 
School which are now vacant. 

3. Divert the Waverley School, now occupied by white children, 
to the use of the negro children of elementary grade and procure a 
site somewhat north and west of the Waverley School and closer in 
from the city boundary and erect thereon a building for white 
children. 

Such an arrangement would relieve the congestion at the Howard 
and Booker T. Washington Schools; would divide the city in so far 
as its negro population is concerned into three approximately equal 
attendance districts; would remove the white children of the 
Waverley district to a point not immediately surrounded by negro 
families, as now obtains; and would relieve the present crowded 
condition of the Taylor and McMaster buildings. This plan, in con- 
junction with the reorganization plan discussed in connection with 
housing the white children, would provide facilities of modern char- 
acter for all of the children of both races for a number of years to 
come it is believed. 

AN ATTENDANCE OFFICER IS ESSENTIAL. 

An essential step in the enforcement of the attendance law is that 
of employing a competent attendance officer, preferably one who has 
had experience in social service work and who commands the respect 
and confidence of the community. He should be employed on full 
time for a 12-months year, for there is much during the vacation 
months which he can profitably do in visiting the employers of school 
children, in following up the arrival and departure of resident 
families, in persuading individuals who think they must drop out 
of school to return, in helping worthy and needy students to find 
work, and in laying the basis for efficient work when the school 
term opens. It is customary in many places to make the attendance 
officer a deputy of the police force and thus invest him with the 
authority for making arrests, though this authority should be used 
sparingly and only as a last resort. He should be provided with a 
motorcycle, as he will need to cover quickly all parts of the city and 
perhaps the adjacent country. 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 167 

For his use the essential information contained in the school- 
census sheets relating to children of compulsory age should be 
transferred to filing cards and be grouped by attendance districts. 
During the first week of each term he should check his census cards 
with the school enrollment and investigate every case of non- enroll- 
ment. To him should be referred for investigation all cases of pro- 
longed and unexplained absence. He can render valuable service, 
too, to the department by investigating the home conditions of 
children who are progressing badly in their work or who may be sus- 
pected by the teachers of living in insanitary, impoverished, or 
irmnoral surroundings. To him, also, should be intrusted the super- 
vision of the taking of the annual school census, for his familiarity 
Avith the city and his acquaintanceship with individual families resi- 
dent therein will go far toward rendering the census increasingly 
complete. By establishing relationships with charity workers, with 
the judges who try cases of juvenile delinquency, with social-service 
organizations, with police officials, with the board of health, and 
with employers of labor, a competent, farsighted, and thoroughly 
unselfish attendance officer can develop for himself a field of useful- 
ness to the school department and to the community at large second 
to none. 

The board should pay a salary large enough to secure a man 
trained to such work and large enough also, it may be added, to in- 
duce the right man to remain in the work for a period of years, for 
obviously in work of this character favorable acquaintanceship in the 
community is an important asset, and acquaintanceship is a matter of 
time. All too frequently, however, the appointment goes to some 
broken-down politician or ex-policeman, or to a poor relative of a 
city official and the story abruptly closes. 

THE VALUE OF A SCHOOL CENSUS. 

A school census taken during the same month each year of all 
children of school age is indispensable to the enforcement of an at- 
tendance law; furthermore, through it valuable information can be 
secured which when analyzed will provide the school authorities 
with a dependable basis for conclusions regarding many problems 
relating to the administration of the system. A permanent record 
card should be made for every family in the city, which should con- 
tain besides other social data the name, address, sex, age, nativity; 
whether attending public, private, or parochial school ; class in such 
school ; the reason for not attending school ; if employed, where, and 
how; and a brief statement of the school history of every child in 
the family. This family record card should be made in duplicate, 
one copy to be retained by the attendance officer and the other to be 
kept on file with the principal of the school attended by the children. 



168 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

If these cards are kept up to date as they should be, the whereabouts 
of every child of school age can be known at all times and the essen- 
tial facts about each can be secured upon a moment's notice. 

Such a permanent record, always in the making, checked up each 
year by a census taken by a house-to-house canvass, is of inestimable 
value in enforcing laws having to do with compulsory attendance, 
with child labor, and with the granting of working permits. A 
tabulation of such records each year by blocks and by districts will 
give valuable information regarding the growth of the city, the 
direction this growth is taking, and the changing and shifting char- 
acter of the population — information which is essential if the board 
is to plan wisely far enough in advance to provide the necessary ac- 
commodations by the time they are needed. 

OVER-AGE CHILDREN IN COLUMBIA. 

Until 1915, according to the rules of the board of school commis- 
sioners, two calendar years were required for entering children to 
complete the work outlined for the first grade. This arrangement 
provided that the children of this grade should attend school during 
these two years but one-half of the time. A child, therefore, who 
entered the system in his sixth year, if he made normal progress, 
entered the second grade in his eighth year and the high school 
(eighth grade) in his fourteenth year, completing his four-year high- 
school course in his seventeenth year. In 1915 this plan was abolished 
for the white schools but retained for the negro schools. Now, in the 
white schools, children attend full time from the first, but enrollment 
before 7 years of age is discouraged though not absolutely forbidden. 
A child, then, entering the system in his seventh year, a year later 
than under the former plan, is due to reach the high school (eighth 
grade) at the same age as before, namely at 14. 

Educators in their discussions of over-age pupils, that is, those who 
are retarded for any reason in their progress through school, have 
generally agreed to allow a leeway of one year in the age of enroll- 
ment as a concession to variable factors which enter. That is to say, 
children who enter the first grade of the Columbia schools, under the 
plan which now prevails, during their seventh and eighth years would 
properly be considered of normal age. Seven years later these same 
children should enter the first high-school year (eighth grade) at the 
normal ages of 14 or 15. Any who are relatively older at any point 
through the grade steps than these children would be are classed as 
over-age or retarded pupils. The same would be true also of the 
negro schools of Columbia, for, while the entering age is theoretically 
lower, 6 years, yet the course provides for half-time attendance dur- 
ing the first two years. The following ages, therefore, should prop- 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 



169 



erly be held to be normal ages for the several grades of the Columbia 
schools as they are now organized : 

ELEMENTABY DIVISION. 

First grade Seventh and eighth years. 

Second grade ^Eight and ninth years. 

Third grade Ninth and tenth years. 

Fourth grade Tenth and eleventh years. 

Fifth grade ^^__,Eleventh and twelfth years. 

Sixth grade Twelfth and thirteenth years. 

Seventh grade ^Thirteenth and fourteenth years. 

HIGH-SCHOOL DIVISION. 

First year Fourteenth and fifteenth years. 

Second year Fifteenth and sixteenth years. 

Third year Sixteenth and seventeenth years. 

Fourth year ^^^_ Seventeenth and eighteenth years. 

Children under these ages are called " under-age " children, either 
because they have progressed through the grades more rapidly than 
children usually do or because they entered the system before they 
were 7 years of age. Children above these ages are called " over-age " 
or " retarded " children, due either to the fact that they have had to 
repeat work in the grades or because they were delayed in entering 
school beyond the eighth year. 

The following tables show the age-grade distribution of the .school 
children of Columbia, white and negro, for the first term of 1917 
segregated in to " under-age," " normal age," and " over-age " groups. 
The numbers to the left of the first vertical lines represent the pupils 
in the several grades who are under age, those between the vertical 
lines indicate the number who are of normal age, and those to the 
right of the second vertical lines express the number of children who 
are over age or retarded in their work. 

Age-grade distribution of white children. 





Total 
pupils. 


Ages. 


Un- 
der- 
age. 


Nor- 
mal 
age. 


Over- 




6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


age. 


1 


577 
517 
495 
460 
345 
276 

246 
153 

77 
39 


55 


254 


203 

-T6 

1 


55 
120 

■1 


24 
128 

-Ti 


15 
32 

101 

4 


3 
19 
31 
101 

4 


12 

s 

72 

Ts 
1 


2 
6 
6 
11 
30 

16 


1 
2 










55 
75 
36 
36 
21 

9 
27 
32 
17 
13 

3 


422 
323 
331 

272 
210 
183 
141 
164 
107 
51 
32 


100 


2 


1 










3 










4 






9 
4 
17 
38 

To-^ 

52 

-To 

1 










152 


5 






2 

13 
45 


1 
























7 












2 


i 


2 

4 


54 


I 












50 


n 














-55122 

24| 27 




In •. 


















IV 


















4 
























Total 


3,407 


55 


329 


«08 


395 


m 


378 


368 


344 


269 


234 


1471 73 


35 


6 


324 


2,236 


&47 



170 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
Age-grade distribution of negro children. 



Grades. 


Total 
pupils. 


Ages. 


Un- 
der- 
age. 


Nor- 
mal 
age. 


Over- 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


age. 




676 
300 

204 
171 
110 
83 
69 
65 


- 


144 

1 


136 


113 


88 
69 

21 
—6 


38 

44 


28 

28 
45 
28 


6 
34 
40 
44 
42 

1 

"10 


2 
11 
17 
35 

-i 
p. 












121 

17 
21 

10 


280 
100 
98 
52 
45 
44 
29 
45 
43 
17 


275 


















47 

4-^ 


_39 




3 


15 6 
17 6 

22 6 
19 13 

23 21 
~il7 
_28^5 










173 




1 
4 
4 
9 
5 

-A 












5 


i^ 




5 






4 

1 


2 


2 


120 


6 










61 


7 
















53 


I 














2 
6 
IS 






14 


II 




















22 


III. 




















1 




16 
























Total. 


2,001 


121 


154 


204 


221 


243 


191 


162 


219 


166 


157 76 


54 


28 


3 


2 


192 


753 


1,056 



These tables, it should be stated, present the situation in Columbia 
in a somewhat more favorable way than the facts warrant. The col- 
umn showing the number of underage children, for example, is 
misleading, for the reason that the system admits children of 6 years 
of age. As the lines are drawn in the preceding tables all such chil- 
dren who have made regular promotions fall to the left of the line 
and are classed as under-age or accelerated pupils. The percentages, 
then, of the whole body actually accelerated is smaller than these 
tables show. The column marked " Over-age " is also somewhat mis- 
leading as it does not show as large a proportion in the over-age 
group as the facts warrant, for the reason that children entering at 
6 years might repeat their work an entire year in this grade and still 
fall within the group marked " Normal age." As the number of such 
children can not be easily ascertained, no correction has been at- 
tempted. At best the tables indicate the general tendency only, and 
in all comparisons made between Columbia and other cities in respect 
to "accelerated" and "retarded" pupils, based upon such statistics, 
this fact should be remembered that in Columbia there are fewer 
children in the system who are accelerated than the tables show and 
a large number of over-age or retarded children. 

Age-grade distribution of Columbia white and negro children compared. 





Under-age. 


Normal age. 


Over-age. 


Grades. 


White. 


Negro. 


White. 


Negro. 


White. 


Negro. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 

cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
b r. 


Per 

cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

cent. 


Elementary division* 


55 
75 
36 
36 
21 
9 
27 


9.5 
14.5 
7.3 
7.8 
6.1 
3.2 
12.2 


121 
9 
17 
21 
6 
5 
1 


17.9 
3.0 
6.0 

10.3 
3.5 
4.5 
1.2 


422 

331 
272 
210 
183 
141 


73.1 
62.5 
66.9 
59.2 
60.9 
66.3 
63.5 


280 
100 

52 
45 
44 
29 


41.4 

34! 

25.5 
26.3 
40.0 
34.9 


100 
119 
128 
152 
114 
84 
54 


17.4 
23.0 
25.8 
33.0 
33.0 
30.5 
24.3 


275 
191 
173 
131 
120 
61 
53 








Third grade. 


60 


FourtlT grade 


64 2 


Fifth grade 








Seventh grade 


63.9 



HOLDING POWEE OP THE SYSTEM. 171 

Age-grade distribution of Columbia white and negro children compared — Continued. 





Under-age. 


Normal age. 


Over-age. 


Grades. 


White. 


Negro. 


White. 


Negro. 


White. 


Negro. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


High-school division: 


32 
17 
13 
3 


13.0 
11.1 
16.9 

7.7 


10 

2 


14.5 
.0 
5.7 


164 
107 
51 
32 


66.7 
70.0 
66.2 

82.0 


45 
43 
17 


65.3 
66.2 
48.6 


50 
29 
13 
4 


20.3 
18.9 
16.9 
10.3 


14 
22 
16 


20.3 


Second grade 


33.8 


ThjrrJ grqrlp 


45.7 




















Total 


324 


9.5 


192 


9.5 


2,236 


65.7 


75, 


37.7 


847 


24.8 


1,056 


52.8 







This table shows that for both white and negro children the 
" under-age " group comprises 9.5 per cent of the enrollment of the 
respective races. As we have already pointed out this is larger than 
the actual facts warrant. In comparison with other cities, however, 
it is low. As to the group of " ov-er-age " children the proportion 
among the negroes runs much higher in each grade excepting in the 
first year of the high school, where each stands at 20.3 per cent. In 
general, it may be said that for every white child who is retarded 
in his progress through school there are two negro children who are 
over age for their grades. Crowded classes, greater irregularity 
of attendance, and the complete lack of the supervision of negro 
teachers are factors which account in part, at least, for this differ- 
ence in the degree of the retardation of the two races. 

By combining the facts of the preceding table relating to the white 
and negro children the situation for the Columbia system as a whole 
is seen. The following table shows the number of over-age children 
of the system, distributed by grades. 

Over-age pupils in Columbia, distributed by grades. 



Grades. 


Enrollment. 


Over-age pupils. 


Per cent 
of enroll- 
ment. 


White. 


Negro. 


Total. 


White. 


Negro. 


Total. 


Elementary division: 


577 
517 
495 
460 
345 
276 
222 

246 
153 

77 
39 


676 
300 

204 
171 
110 
83 

69 
65 
35 



1,253 
817 
783 
664 
51P 
386 
315 

315 
218 
112 


100 
119 
128 
152 
114 
84 
54 

50 
29 
13 
4 


275 
191 
173 
131 
120 
61 
53 

14 
22 
16 



375 
310 
301 
283 
234 
145 
107 

64 
51 
29 
4 


30.0 




38.0 


Third grade 


38.4 




42.6 


Fifth grade 


45.3 


Sixth grade 


37.5 


Seventh grade . 


34.0 


High-school division: 


20.3 


Second year ... 


13.3 


Third year 


25.9 




10.3 






Total 


3,407 


2,001 


5,408 


847 


1,056 


1,903 


35.1 







172 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Variations from the normal age among cities} 



Enroll- 
ment. 



Per cent 
imder age. 



Per cent 
normal age, 



Per cent 
over age. 



Amsterdam, N. Y. 

Bayonne, N. J 

Canton, Ohio 

D anbury. Conn 

Danville, ni 

East St. Louis, m.. 

Elizabeth, N. J 

Elmlra, N.Y 

Hazelton, Pa 

Indianapolis. Ind. . 
Kenosha, Wis 



Milwaukee, Wis , 

Montclair,N. J 

Muskegon, Mich 

New Orleans, La. (white) . . . . 

Plainfleld, N. J 

Reading, Pa 

Rockford, ni 

Topeka, Kans 

Trenton, N. J 

Des Moines (Report, 1915) 

Altoona (Report, 1915) 

Butte, Mont, (survey) 

Salt Lake City (survey) 

Brookline, Mass. (survey) 

San Francisco, Cal. (survey). 
COLUMBIA, S.C 



1 Except for the last 7 cities in this list the statistics v ere taken from Ayres, The Identification of the 
Misfit Child. (1911.) 

In respect to under-age children — ^that is, those who are progressing 
through the grades more rapidly than their fellows — Columbia ranks 
among the cities having the lowest percentage. Theoretically, if the 
course of study of a given system is shaped with the requirements 
of the majority in mind then there should be just about as many 
children passing through the grades faster than the normal rate as 
there are those who are over age. In a number of cities of the fore- 
going list the under-age and over-age columns are nearly balanced. 
As promotions become more flexible, and as a system concerns itself 
more and more with the needs of individual children, this theoretical 
balance will increasingly be approximated. In general, systems 
having few children who are accelerated in their work are rigid, 
inflexible, more or less mechanical, and tend to consider mass re- 
quirements rather than the requirements of individuals. 

The belief that classes of pupils must be held together, intact for 
an entire term, and that shifts and reorganizations should be made 
at the end of a term only, is responsible undoubtedly for much of 
the rigidity of school systems. In point of fact, in schools where 
two or more classes are on the same level of advancement respecting 
the course of study, it is easy to group the best in each at frequent 
intervals during the term, permitting those who are capable to 
skip a month's assignment of work or more and in this way to 
accelerate their progress through the grades. The ungraded class 
plan, discussed elsewhere in this report, is another way of accom- 
plishing the same end. Perhaps, however, the most effective means 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 173 

of introducing tMs element of flexibility in the Columbia system 
would be that of substituting for promotions by examination the 
plan of promotion based on the normal distribution of ability. This 
plan is discussed in detail in Section V. 

The second point to be noted in connection with the preceding 
table is the relative place Columbia occupies among other cities 
respecting the percentage of her pupils who are over age. Of her 
enrollment, 35.1 per cent are over age, against an average for the 
list of 40 per cent and a median of 40 per cent also. In this matter 
her record among these cities is well within the average. Compari- 
sons here, however, are not to be taken as indicating more than gen- 
eral tendencies, for to be fair another factor needs to be known, 
and that is what percentage of over-age pupils in these cities have 
dropped out of school altogether. Obviously a city where a large 
percentage of repeaters withdraw will make a more favorable show- 
ing in a comparison as to over-age percentage than will a city which 
holds its over-age children in its system. We know how many chil- 
dren were repeating work in the Columbia schools during the last 
half of 1917, and we know, also, how many of these withdrew from 
schools, but we do not know what the withdrawals of repeaters in the 
other cities of the foregoing list have been. 

THE REPEATERS IN THE COLUMBIA SYSTEM. 

When for any reason a pupil fails to be promoted at the accustomed 
time he is usually obliged to repeat the work that he has been over 
during the year; or half-year, if promotions are made twice a year. 
Such a child is called a "repeater" and in some schools certain chil- 
dren have been held in a given grade so long that the same work has 
been gone over six times. In Columbia the largest number of repeti- 
tions of a single grade reported was five, and that for but one child, 
a negro in the first grade of the Booker T. Washington School. In 
the system as a whole, during the last term of 1917, there were 577 
children who were taking their work the second time, 53 taking it 
the third time, 15 the fourth time, and 1 the fifth time. Altogether, 
then, during the closing term of 1917, there were 646 pupils, or 12 
per cent of the enrollment, who were repeating their work one or 
more times. 

THE WITHDRAWAL OF REPEATERS. 

The curious fact appears that as a group the repeaters, even though 
they have failed in promotion, show a greater tenacity than others 
about remaining in school. The tables which follow show that 16.3 
per cent of those repeating their work for the term dropped out of 
school, whereas the system as a whole during the same period lost 



174 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

18.1 per cent of its enrollment. The tables which follow bring out 
these facts about the loss of pupils from the system, compared with 
the loss among the repeaters, together with some of the reasons given 
by the teachers which produced these repeaters. 

Loss of pupils from the system. 



PupUs. 


Total en- 
roUment. 


Number 

belonging 

at end of 

term. 


I'OSS. 


Percentage 
of loss. 


White children: 


2,892 
515 


2,440 
452 


452 
63 


15.6 




12.2 






Total 


3,407 


2,892 


515 


15.1 






Negro children: 


1,832 
169 


1,485 
151 


347 
18 


18.8 


High 


10.6 








2,001 
5,408 


1,636 
4,548 


365 

981 


18.2 




18.1 







Loss among the repeaters. 



Pupils. 


Taking 
work 

second 
time 


With- 
draw- 
als. 


Taking 
work 
third 
time. 


With- 
draw- 
als. 


Taking 
work 
fourth 
time. 


With- 
draw- 
als. 


Total 
repeat- 
ers. 


Total 
with- 
draw- 
als. 


Per- 
centage 
with- 
draw- 
ing. 


White children: 


277 
33 


48 
5 


31 

4 


9 

1 


9 



5 



317 
37 


62 
6 


19.5 


High 


16.2 






Total 


310 


53 


35 


10 


9 


5 


354 


68 


19.2 






Negro children: 


262 
5 


31 
3 


18 



2 




6 






286 
5 


34 
3 


11.9 


High 


60.0 






Total . 


267 
577 


34 

87 


18 
53 


2 
12 


6 
15 


1 
6 


291 
645 


37 
105 


12.7 


Grand total 


16.3 







Causes producing the repeaters, advanced by teachers. 

Number of 
cases. 

Sickness 80 

Entering new scliool system 95 

Indifference to sctiool and study 216 

Work too difficult 69 

Mentally deficient 146 

No reason given 39 

Total repeaters 645 



THE SCHOOL HISTORY OF 100 COLUMBIA PUPILS. 

Preceding tables are based upon statistics of large groups of chil- 
dren as shown by school and census records. They indicate with 
approximate accuracy the general trend in the systems studied, but 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 



175 



within the limits set there are of necessity many opportunities for 
individual variations which the statistical method will not disclose. 
Much more accurate and valuable conclusions could be drawn were 
it possible to get at the school history of each child entering a sys- 
tem. Many departments, recognizing the need of more accurate in- 
formation relative to the efficiency of the schools, are modifying their 
records so that the history of the progress of every child entering the 
system will be available at all times for such study. 

The records of promotions and failures of every child who has 
entered the Columbia system have been kept in the teachers' regis- 
ters, all of which, from the first, have been preserved. It was possi- 
ble, therefore, to go back 11 years in the system, take 100 children 
who entered at that time and who should have graduated from the 
high school in 1917, and by tracing each through the registers to com- 
pile an accurate record of what happened to the group. This was 
done, and the tables which follow show the results of this study. It 
should be added that in making up the list of 100 names, 50 white 
boys and 50 white girls were taken in the order in which their names 
chanced to appear in the registers of the school year 1905-6. The 
list comprises, therefore, a typical group of white children. 

Survival of 100 white pupils entering the first grade together. 





Elementary grades. 


High-school grades. 




L 


n. 


m. 


V7. 


V. 


VI. 


vn. 


I. 


n. 


m. 


VT. 


Entered 


too 

22 
22.0 


78 
7 
8.9 


71 
12 
16.9 


69 
5 
8.5 


54 
7 
13.0 


47 
6 
12.7 


41 
12 
29.2 


29 
6 
20.7 


23 
9 
39.1 


14 
4 
28.5 


10 


Left - . 


3 


Percentage left of entered 


30.0 







Notes on the above table. 

Two who left the fourth grade are known to have graduated in regular time 
at another school. 

One entered Clemson College from the ninth grade. 

Seven graduated; two are repeating their work; one entered the University 
of South Carolina from the eleventh grade. 

Scholarship distribution of those leaving the system. 



Pupils. 


Scholar- 
ship satis- 
factory, so 
may have 

entered 
other 

systems. 


Scholar- 
ship satis- 
factory, 
but dM 
not enter 

other 
system. 


Gradu- 
ated 
from 
other 

systems. 


Failed in 
school 
work. 


Still in 

local 

school 

system. 


Entered 
college 
before 
gradua- 
tion. 


Gradu- 
ated 
from 
local 

school. 


Total, 


Later history not 


24 






18 












7 


2 


2 


2 


7 











176 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
OBSERVATIONS BASED ON THE PRECEDING TABLES. 

1. Regarding survival: 

47 entered the sixth grade. 

29 entered the first high-school year (eighth year). 

14 entered the tliird high-school year (tenth year). 
7 graduated from the local high school. 

2 are known to have graduated from other high schools. 

2 are still in the system. 

2 entered college before completing high school. 

2. Regarding the 7 local graduates (3 boys, 4 girls) : 

5 completed the course in normal time. 
2 gained one year each. 

2 went into business. 

1 entered Clemson College. 

1 entered the University of South Carolina. 

1 joined the Navy. 

2 remained at home. 

3. Regarding the 58 who left before entering the sixth grade: 

22 left before reaching the second grade. 
31 entered the second grade. 

7 of the 31 who entered the second grade, but who left before reaching 

the sixth, were promoted regularly as long as they remained in 
school. 
2 were accelerated in their promotions. 
22 had records of repetition and failure in work. 
.J. Regarding the 22 who left before reaching the second grade: 

6 were under 6 years of age upon entering schooL 

8 were 6 but less than 7 years of age. 
4 were 7 but less than 8 years of age. 

2 were 8 but less than 9 years of age. 
1 was above 9 years. 

1 had no age givea 

5. Regarding the 18 toho entered the sixth grade, but left before entering the 

high school {eighth grade): 

3 were promoted regularly as long as they remained. 

2 were accelerated in promotion. 

13 had records of repetition and failure in work. 

6. Regarding the 19 entering high school, but leaving before completing the 

third year: 

3 were regularly promoted during their course. 
1 entered Clemson College from the ninth grade. 

15 had records of repetition and failure. 





Entering age in relation to retardation 


in the first grade. 








Below 5 


5 years 6 

months but 

le.ss than 6 

years. 


6 years but 


7 years but 


8 years but 


9 years but 








years 6 


less than 7 


less than 8 


less than 9 


less than 10 








months. 


years. 


years. 


years. 


years. 


60 

.g 




Pupils. 


i 




i 




i 




i 




i 




i 








i 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 




1 


i 


1 




.1 


2 

o 


i 








Ps 


f^ 


(U 


f^ 


Ph 




p^ 


f^ 


^ 


f^ 


'A 


^ 


Nvimber 





s 


10 


9 


,S5 


10 


17 


4 


3 





2 





5 


100 


Percentage 


0.0 


100.0 


52. r 


47.3 


71.5 


28.5 


76.5 


23.5 


100.0 


0.0 


100.0 


0.0 







HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 



177 



Notes on the above table. 

In the first grade 67 were promoted; 28 failed; 5 had no rating. 

All below 5i years failed ; all above 8 years passed. 

The percentage of failures of those below the sixth year of age was 58.3 
per cent ; of those between 6 and 7 years, 28.5 per cent ; and between 7 and 8 
years, 23.5 per cent. 

The percentage of failures increases as entering ages decrease from 6 years 
and decreases as entering ages increase above 6 years. 

THE EXPECTANCY SURVIVAIi COMPARED WTTH ACTUAL SURVIVAL, 

Several notable studies of school mortality and survival have been 
made during the past 10 years, all based upon mass statistics, which, 
as already pointed out, can go no further than to suggest a general 
tendency. While the foremost of the investigators of this matter 
disagree in minor details, yet noting as an exception Thomdike's be- 
lief that school elimination begins early in the primary grades, they 
agree, in the main, that of every 100 children annually entering the 
first grade of city schools nearly all will remain to the end of the 
fifth grade; that about 50 out of every entering 100 will reach the 
last grade of the elementary school ; that 30 to 40 will enter the high 
school ; that 8 to 10 will graduate from the high school ; that of this 
number from 1 to 3 will enter normal schools, colleges, and schools 
beyond the grade of high school; and that about one-half of these 
will remain to the completion of their course. 

It will be of interest to compare this expectancy as to survival 
with the actual facts as shown by the record made by 100 of Colum- 
bia's pupils. This comparison follows : 

Expectancy survival of 100 entering fmpils compared with actual survival. 





Elementary grades. 


High-school grades. 




1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


I 


II 


III 


rv 


Thomdike i 


100 
173 

150 

140 
100 


100 
129 

120 
115 

78 


100 
128 

115 
110 
71 


90 
120 

no 
no 

59 


SI 
106 

100 
95 
54 


68 
90 

85 
85 
47 


54 
71 

65 
75 
41 


40 
51 

50 
60 


27 
40 

35 
45 
29 


17 
19 

20 
30 
23 


12 
14 

14 
20 
14 


8 


Ayres2 




Stoyer:» 


10 


Cirl*! 













1 Thomdike: The Eliminatipn of Pupils from School, p. 111. 

s, p. 135. 



s Ayres: Laggards in Our Schools, p. 57. 



* Strayer: Age and Grade Course of Schools and 

* Graduated. 

Thorndike's contention that the break in school attendance begins 
in the primary grades is supported by this study of Columbia. 
However, it should be pointed out that in the systems studied by 
Ayres and Strayer compulsory attendance was probably enforced, 
while in Columbia no attempt has been made to enforce the law in 
this particular. In Columbia the break began in the first year and 
76482—18 12 



178 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL,S OF COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

was heavy throughout all the grades of the elementary school, the 
three points of especial danger being the first grade, the last grade 
of the elementary school, and the second year of the high school, the 
loss at each point being, respectively, 22 per cent, 29.2 per cent, and 
39.1 per cent of those entering the grade (see chart page 175). In 
general it may be said that the history of this group in Columbia fol- 
lows Thomd ike's theoretical distribution more closely than either 
that of Ayres or Strayer. However, before any hard and fast con- 
clusion can be drawn as to the actual facts regarding mortality and 
survival among our city school systems, many more studies of the 
school histories of typical groups of children in various parts of this 
country must be made. 

The facts, then, concerning Columbia's holding power justify the 
conclusion that — despite the handicaps of inadequate maintenance, 
meager equipment, lack of adequate supervision, the failure to enforce 
the attendance law, relatively inflexible methods of promotion, and 
much teaching of a content which is uninteresting and unrelated to 
anything significant in the child's world — the system, though falling 
short of realizable possibilities, yet compares favorably with the ten- 
dency among the city systems of the country. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The school census gives a total of 7,938 children, 4,898 whites 
and 3,040 negroes, in Columbia between the ages of 6 and 21 years. 
There are reasons for thinking that this total may be about one-third 
short of the actual number. 

2. According to the census there are 233 white children and 186 
negroes of compulsory age, 8-14, not in school. To enforce compul- 
sory attendance for all children from 6 to 14 years of age, additional 
provision would have to be made for about 450 children of each race. 

3. To care for the growth of the white school population it is rec- 
ommended that the system be reorganized on the basis of six grades 

.in the elementary division; three grades in the junior high-school 
division; and three grades in the senior high-school division. By 
erecting a building for the junior high school and congregating 
thereat the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of the system, suffi- 
cient room will be obtained, it is believed, to care for the growth of 
school attendance for a number of years. 

4. To house the negro children the Howard School buildings 
should be replaced with modern buildings planned to accommodate 
two groups of pupils ; one, comprising the first six grades, and a 
second, comprising the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades only. The 
vacant rooms of the Booker T. Washington School should be 
equipped; and the committee suggests that the Waverley School 
should be turned over to negro occupancy after a building for the 



HOLDING POWER OF THE SYSTEM. 179 

white children of the neighborhood has been provided, somewhat 
closer in from the city limits and farther to the north. 

5. A progressive family census record should be kept which should 
be checked up each year by a school census taken under the super- 
vision of an attendance officer, who is essential to the enforcement 
of the compulsory attendance law. 

6. Of the school enrollment, 9.5 per cent are under age for the 
given grades; 55,3 per cent are of normal age; and 35.1 per cent 
are over-age. Except in the percentage of under-age children, which 
is low, Columbia ranks well within the average of the cities in these 
proportions. 

7. Twelve per cent of the enrollment repeat their work one or 
more times. This is too large a proportion. 

8. The history of 100 pupils who entered the first grade together 
11 years ago shows the following survival: 78 of them entered the 
second grade; 71 entered the third grade; 59 entered the fourth 
grade; 54 entered the fifth; 47 entered the sixth; 41 entered the 
seventh; 29 entered the first year of the high school (the eighth 
grade) ; 23 entered the second year; 14 entered the third year; 10 
entered the fourth year, of which number 7 graduated from the 
local school. 

9. The facts concerning the holding power of the Columbia sys- 
tem warrant the conclusion that the system, though falling short 
of possibilities, compares favorably with other cities of this country. 



VII.— SUMMARY OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 

(The following comprise only the more general recommendations which the 
survey committee submits ; a summary of the detailed recommendations will be 
found at the end of each chapter or, in some instances, at the end of important 
divisions of chapters. It is not possible, of course, neither is it desirable, to 
introduce all of the recommendations made in this report at once. Rather, in 
making its report, the committee has attempted to set forth a constructive 
program, the inauguration of which should properly extend over a period of 
years. ) 



1. Length of the school cowrse.— Accepted school practice in the 
United States has fixed upon 12 years, beginning with the age of 6 
as the proper length of the combined elementary and high-school 
periods. For a time in the New England States the prevailing 
course was one of 13 years, beginning with the age of 5 ; while in the 
Southern States the tendency has been to fix the length at 11 years 
and the beginning age at 6 or 7. In general, however, it is now 
agreed that the plan of 12 years, with a child entering at 6, best 
meets the educational needs of all. 

As this time allotment now prevails in a large majority of cities 
and States, except in the South, and as it is being adopted in the 
cities of this section also; as the graduates of the Columbia schools 
should be as well equipped as are the graduates of the best schools 
of the United States; and as this is impossible when Columbia's 
course is shorter than that of most other cities, the committee recom- 
mends that the work of the elementary and high-school divisions be 
lengthened to an aggregate of 12 years, and that the age of 6 be 
fixed as the entering age. 

2. Regrouping of the grades. — The practice which has prevailed 
among cities of dividing the 12 years or grades into an elementary 
division of 8 years and a high-school division of 4 years is changing 
to what is known as the six-three-three arrangement; that is, to an 
organization in which the elementary period is limited to 6 years and 
the high-school period is extended to 6 years but broken into two 
3-year periods. One of these, usually comprising the seventh, eighth, 
and ninth grades, is generally called the junior high-school period ; 
the other, the senior high-school period. This plan has been tested 
out so thoroughly among so many cities during the past eight years, 
and has met with such universal favor, that it seems fairly certain to 
become the typical grouping arrangement of this country. The com- 
mittee recommends that this form of organization be adopted in Co- 

180 



SUMMARY OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 181 

luinbia and that the necessary adjustments be effected. These are 
discussed in detail on pages 161-165 of this report. 

3. The daily session. — Ever since the school system of Columbia 
was established, the practice which prevails in the South has been 
followed, namely, beginning the single daily session at 9 a. m. and 
closing at 2 p. m., with two recess intermissions of 15 minutes each. 
The committee believes that the arrangement in effect generally, ex- 
cept in the South, of having a forenoon session and an afternoon 
session, the one beginning at 9 and closing at 11.30 or 12, and the 
other beginning at 1 or 1.30 and extending to 4 or 4.30 in the after- 
noon, is preferable. 

Under the present plan when dismissal time comes teachers and 
children are hungry, and in consequence there is a tendency for all to 
make a rush for their hom^ps. Hence no opportunity is afforded for 
the giving of that personal and individual help which many of the 
children need. Again, children can not do good work when hungry, 
so there must be a time toward the close of the session, under the ar- 
rangement which now obtains, when on this account there is a loss in 
the efficiency of the pupils' work. Furthermore, as many parents are 
laboring people and can not arrange for a meal at 2.30, as profes- 
sional and business men can, many of the children get nothing to eat 
when they reach home except what is left over from the noon meal. 
With many this means that the only hot food they get is that which 
is served at breakfast, for the custom prevails in the South of mak- 
ing the mid-meal the hot meal of the day, the supper usually being 
light and often cold. 

While it is pleasant for teachers to be dismissed for the day early 
in the afternoon, and while a double session plan will affect the op- 
portunities which some of the children have for after-school work, 
nevertheless the committee feels that the educational benefits of the 
two-session plan outweigh the disadvantages and recommends that 
it be adopted. 

4. An all-year school session. — In various sections of the country 
cities are adopting the plan of breaking the year up into four quar- 
ters of 12 weeks each, and holding a school session for the aggregate 
of 48 weeks per annum. 

The plan, meeting as it does the needs of a greater number of 
children, introduces thereby desirable elements of flexibility in the 
school system. It eliminates the wastage due to the shut-down of 
expensive school plants for the vacation period; and it provides 
opportunity for usefully employing the time of pupils who otherwise 
would be idle or else occupied in running the streets. Furthermore, 
it is now coming to be recognized that continuous school attendance 
works no hardship upon healthy children so long as worry and 
unnecessary mental strain are avoided. 



182 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Then, too, the all-year session harmonizes naturally with the plan, 
discussed elsewhere, of offering an opportunity to pupils of high- 
school age to alternate between school and outside work. It also 
enables those who desire to do so to pass through the schools more 
rapidly than formerly, thus making it possible for them to become 
self-supporting at an earlier age than heretofore. 

The committee indorses the plan and would suggest that steps be 
taken at an early date to make the modifications in the present form 
of organization which its adoption would entail. The transition 
would not be difficult, requiring only the expansion of the summer 
school which is now held. 

The plan is discussed more fully on pages 61, 62 of this report. 

5. C oofeTobwe schools. — The suggestion which the committee 
makes here is merely this, that arrangements be entered into be- 
tween the school and the employers of labor in particular local 
industries whereby both boys and girls of high-school age may 
be permitted to alternate between school and outside employment in 
periods of one or two weeks. This plan is set forth in some detail 
on pages 79, 80 of this report. This arrangement gives the school the 
use of industrial equipments which it is impossible for the school 
to duplicate; it gives the young people the opportunity of securing 
industrial or business training under actual conditions; it enables 
them thereby more intelligently to determine their own aptitudes; 
and it helps them to become partly self-supporting, at least, while 
they are yet in school. No separate schools are needed, for the modi- 
fication of schedule and of organization for pupils who would wish 
to take advantage of such an opportunity would not be difficult. A 
study should be made of local needs and opportunities with a view 
to introducing such a plan for the training of both white and negro 
children of high-school age. 

6. Pupil promotion. — While Columbia's present plan of promo- 
tion, which is based in part upon formal examinations and in part 
upon term standings, is the plan which is in operation very generally 
throughout the country, nevertheless, as it is administered, it works 
an injustice upon children, for it requires each pupil to square his 
work by a vague, intangible, theoretical standard of excellence set 
up by each teacher and which unwittingly fluctuates with her every 
emotional change. 

Every group of children not artificially selected has a distribution 
of ability which is about the same as that of every other group. This 
distribution of ability should be the norm which should guide teach- 
ers in making their promotions. Such a plan eliminates the varia- 
tions of standard due to differences among teachers and enables the 
class itself through its own progress to determine its own standards 
of accomplishment and of promotion. Such a plan would tend im- 



SUMMARY OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 183 

mediately to break up the habit of failing, which the committee fears 
the school children of Columbia are forming, substituting therefor 
the habit of succeeding. 

The plan is discussed in detail in Section V ; the reasons are given, 
also, which impel the committee to urge its adoption. 

7. Supervision. — The committee finds that the supervision of the 
schools, on the purely educational and professional side of the work, 
is entirely inadequate. The superintendent is both the secretary and 
the treasurer of the board. Besides the duties incident to this re- 
lationship, he has had to assume the responsibility for carrying into 
effect a 12-year building program. Along these lines of his activity 
his work has been admirably done, but he has found it impossible 
at the same time to supply personally that coordinating and stimu- 
lating influence which good educational teamwork demands. The 
supervisor of the elementary grades has overworked herself in the 
effort to do what she recognizes needs to be done. Part of her time 
has been diverted to distributing supplies, but even though her entire 
time were spent in the schools it would still be insufficient to satisfy 
the need. Moreover, the principals of even the larger schools have 
never been permitted to assume any authority in their schools in 
directing or supervising the teaching activities. In consequence, then, 
of these conditions, the teachers are not getting the constructive help 
in their work which they need. 

Efficient help should at once be secured to free the superintendent 
from routine duties and permit him to give his mind over to con- 
structive educational thinking and planning. If the junior high 
school form of organization be adopted, the superintendent, together 
with an elementary supervisor, restricted in her responsibility to the 
first six grades, and both working with and through competent prin- 
cipals who have sufficient time free from teaching to enable them to 
keep in close touch with the classroom work of their teachers, would 
provide an adequate corps of supervision rumiing throughout the 
system. Such an arrangement, supplemented by supervisors of cer- 
tain special subjects, such as music, penmanship, drawing, industrial 
arts, and home economics, and in the high schools by department 
heads working under the immediate authority of the principal, 
should provide a satisfactory supervisorial organization at compara- 
tively small additional cost to the department. 

The committee feels that the supervision of the negro schools on 
the side of the instructional activities has been particularly lacking. 
The plan which is employed in important cities of the South of 
having their white supervisors, both men and women, direct the work 
of these schools, just as they do the work of the white schools, should 
be adopted in Columbia. For surely, if the city is going to provide 
school buildings and school equipment for the negroes and employ 



184 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. 

teachers and maintain schools for them, it ought to follow up the 
work of these teachers and see that it is properly done. 

The need of more supervision in the Columbia schools is discussed 
in Section V, and some of the results of inadequate supervision are 
pointed out. 

8. A schedule of salaries.— JJnder the present salary schedule of 
the Columbia school corps, after paying for their board, room, laun- 
dry, and car far© for the nine months of the school tenn, the women 
teachers of the department have a margin of from $185 to $427.50 
only, out of which they must provide their clothing and incidentals 
for the entire year and also their expenses for the three vacation 
months. Of the 165 cities listed by the United States Commissioner 
of Education as being in Columbia's population class (25,000 to 
50,000), Columbia stood No. 8 from the bottom in the amount ex- 
pended in 1915-16 in salaries of principals, supervisors, and teachers 
per pupil in average daily attendance. Of these 165 cities, 138 ex- 
pended one and one-half times as much as Columbia, while 36 of 
them expended twice as much or more. Since that date the cost of 
living has risen enormously. Under conditions which now obtain it 
is impossible to attract to the schools, or to hold after they have once 
entered the system, teachers of the type that are needed. 

The committee recommends an immediate and generous revision 
of the salary and wage schedules of all the employees of the school 
department. It suggests (see p. 45) a schedule for the elementary 
teachers which recognizes both length of service and relative merit. 
A detailed discussion of this matter will be found in Section III. 

9. 2'he kindergarten. — The kindergarten has won its way to a per- 
manent place in the school organization of this country. There is 
evidence tending to show that kindergarten training lessens the 
failures of children in their later school work. This tendency is 
especially marked in the first grade. It exercises this influence both 
directly and indirectly ; directly, in the sense that such training tends 
to fit a child for " finding himself " quickly in his school work ; and, 
indirectly, by keeping children out of the first grade until they are 
more mature. 

In Columbia one free kindergarten, supported by benevolences, has 
been established in the Blossom Street School, The committee rec- 
ommends that this class be taken over by the school department and 
made an integral part of its system and that other classes be estab- 
lished in some other schools of the city. For a discussion of this 
topic, see pages 53-58 of this report. 

10. Evening classes. — Evening schools for both children who can 
not attend the day school and for adults who wish to make up for 
lost opportunities have come to be a recognized part of the school 
machinery of all progressive communities. Columbia has made a 



SUMMARY OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 185 

start in providing such opportunity, but should make definite plans 
for extending this most important department of school work. 

11. The negro schools. — ^The Howard School is not a fit place for 
housing school children and should be replaced by a building of 
modern type. The committee suggests that a study of local condi- 
tions might show that the present site could be sold advantageously 
and a site purchased elsewhere which would be more suitable for 
school purposes. 

The committee suggests, also, the desirability of permitting negro 
children to occupy the Waverley building after a building for the 
white children of the neighborhood has been erected to the north 
and somewhat farther in from the city limits. 

With these changes it is believed that the negro school population 
can be taken care of for a number of years to come. These sugges- 
tions are discussed in some detail on pages 165, 166 of this report. 

12. Home economics. — Work in home economics should be required 
of all girls from the fifth to the ninth grade, inclusive, and elective 
courses should be provided for those in the more advanced grades 
who desire the work. Afternoon and evening extension courses 
should also be provided for home makers and for young women now 
in stores and offices. At present central schools only should be 
equipped for 'the work, although it is desirable ultimately that the 
work should be done in all schools. A practice house should be es- 
tablished in the Blossom Street neighborhood. All schools having 
equipment should utilize the cooking work in a practical way by 
making the product the basis of noon lunches. One supervisor for the 
city should be provided, and she should be given an adequate force of 
assistants. For a detailed discussion, see pages 75-79. 

13. Manual training. — Work in this department for the boys 
should parallel that in the home economics for the girls. When the 
girls of a given class are attending their sewing and cooking courses, 
the boys of the same class should be in the shops. 

Beginning with the junior high-school period, opportunity should 
be provided for gaining instruction in woodworking and in machine- 
shop work which would prepare the pupils for entering the indus- 
tries later in a wage-earning capacity, if desired. Special technical 
courses leading to the vocations should also be provided where there 
are groups sufficiently large to justify the expense. 

The cooperative plan of alternating work in the school is com- 
mendable, and will give those who participate the chance of learning 
a vocation while yet in school. 

14. Instruction in agriculture. — Agricultural courses should be or- 
ganized in the high schools, and each pupil taking these should be 
required to illustrate the work of the term or year by completing at 
home under the supervision of the instructor an agricultural project. 



186 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OP COLUMBIA^ SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The high-scliool instructor in agriculture should be required to train 
and direct grade teachers in showing the children of their classes how 
to grow gardens at their homes. See the discussion on pages 63-74 
of this report. 

15. Playground arid recreational activities. — As now organized 
these activities are administered by a municipal department acting 
through a supervisor of playgrounds. During vacations and after 
school the grounds of some of the schools are used for supervised 
play. No arrangements, however, have been effected whereby the use 
of the basement facilities of the schools is permitted. The commit- 
tee recommends that the work be turned over to the board of school 
commissioners to administer, for the recreational department could 
be made more effective as an integral part of the school system. 
Under such an arrangement the supervisor would have charge of or- 
ganized games at recesses, would train the teachers to conduct physi- 
cal exercises in their classrooms, and would organize and supervise 
the play activities of the children and adults during after-school 
hours. By such plan waste would be eliminated and greater effi- 
ciency be secured. See pages 73, 74 of this report. 

16. ScJiool-supervised home gardening. — Gardening done by chil- 
dren at home in yards and vacant lots under constant and intelligent 
direction has great educational and economic value and should be 
made an essential part of the work of the schools. For this purpose 
there should be employed by school officials a sufficient number of 
teachers to allow one teacher-director of garden work for every 150 
children between the ages of 8 and 15. These teachers should be 
employed for the entire year and should give their afternoons and 
Saturdays during the regular school term and all vacations to in- 
structing and directing the children in gardening work. 

17. The compulsory attendance law. — The compulsory attendance 
law now on the statute books should be enforced for both white and 
negro children alike. To accomplish this effectually an attendance 
officer is required who should keep a cumulative family record card 
and check this up each year by taking a school census. To him 
should be referred all cases of prolonged or unexplained absence on 
the part of children. He should be called upon to investigate the 
home conditions of children who are progressing badly in their work. 
A salary should be paid sufficient to secure a man trained to do this 
work, and sufficient, it may be added, to induce the right man to 
remain for a period of years in the work. For the discussion of this 
recommendation see pages 166, 167 of this report. 

18. Special classes for exceptional children. — There are now en- 
rolled in the Columbia system approximately 200 children who are 
exceptional in the sense that their needs require that they be placed in 



SUMMARY OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 187 

special classes for individual instruction by teachers specially trained 
for this kind of work. To meet the need among the white children 
three special classes should be organized ; one for the feeble-minded, 
one for the partially blind, and one for the partially deaf. Trans- 
portation for those living at a distance and who can not afford the 
necessary car fare should be provided by the board. The same 
facilities should be extended to the negro children as soon as the 
housing needs for the negro children who are normal have been met. 
A " restoration" or " ungraded " class should be established in 
each of the large schools for those children who are irregular in 
their work and who are in need of more individual instruction than 
the regular teacher of the class can give. See the discussion on 
pages 58-62. 

19. Semiannual promotions in the negro schools. — The semiannual 
promotion plan which has operated in the white schools since -1913-14 
should be extended to the negro schools as well. Under the plan 
which now prevails in the negro schools, a child who fails in his work 
is obliged to repeat the work of the entire year; whereas, with the 
white children, under the semiannual promotion plan, a failure re- 
quires the repetition of but one term of school work. 

20. Content of school courses. — Every effort should be made by 
teachers to enrich the content of their instruction. This means that 
textbooks must be supplemented by material gained from other 
sources. A good working library of well-selected books and periodi- 
cals is indispensable to good teaching. The people of the city should 
be urged to provide such a library at public expense. In addition, 
school libraries should be built up in each school comprising material 
which will supplement the work of the school. In the high school 
a room should be equipped as a library and the pupils encouraged to 
make constant use of it in the preparation of the class work. 
Teachers familiar with modern library methods should be placed 
in charge in rotation. For the discussion of this recommendation, 
see pages 119-126. 

21. Junior high school. — If the committee's recommendation that 
the seven-four grouping of grades, which now obtains in Columbia, 
be changed to the six-three-three arrangement, then a junior high- 
school building will be needed at some central point where the sev- 
enth, eighth, and ninth grades of the entire city can be congregated. 
A site separate from the senior high school would be ideal and much 
to be desired. On grounds, however, of economy such a building 
could be erected on the present high-school site. 

- Through the erection of a junior high-school building and the with- 
drawal of the seventh grades from the elementary schools and of the 
eighth and ninth grades from the high school, it is believed that suffi- 



188 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAKOLINA, 

cient room would be secured to care for the normal growth of the city 
for a number of years. 

The committee also recommends that in the rebuilding of the 
Howard School for the negroes, suggested elsewhere, provision be 
made for a junior high-school department. 

For details concerning these recommendations see the report, pages 
161-166. 

22. School publicity. — The committee thinli:s it probable that Co- 
lumbia is not fully awake to the work of its schools or to their needs. 
It is the business of the school officials to keep the people fully informed 
as to both matters. No opportunity should ever be neglected for direct-" 
ing the active and interested attention of the community to the 
schools in order that adequate maintenance shall be assured. Instead 
of trying to reduce expenditures at every turn, thus crippling the 
work, the board of school commissioners should be aggressively en- 
deavoring to raise sufficient funds to carry on public education in 
the manner demanded by present-day ideals and conditions. This 
matter is discussed more fully on pages 27-29 of this report. 

From time to time, in his annual report to the board, the superin- 
tendent has made wise recommendations for the improvement of the 
schools. In many instances these have not been adopted, presumably 
for lack of funds. The committee suggests that the board could easily 
have made these obviously urgent recommendations the basis of a 
campaign of publicity in the community which in the end would 
have brought the necessary maintenance increase. 

It is generally admitted among students of educational adminis- 
tration that boards of education, responsible as they are for the char- 
acter of the work of their schools, should have the power to levy 
taxes for their support, to the end that there may be sufficient funds 
to carry out their policies effectively. In many places this is now 
the actual practice. 

23. Regarding Colum'bia's ability to inaugurate this program. — 
Of the 213 cities of the United States listed by the Census Bureau 
as having a population of 30,000 or more, Columbia stands third 
from the bottom in the proportionate part of the annual city expendi- 
ture which goes to the support of her schools. She stands fifth from 
the bottom in the actual amount per capita of population which is 
diverted to the schools. Her school expenditure, proportionate to the 
expenditures for other municipal departments, would have to be in- 
creased one-half to bring her up to the average of the cities of 30,000 
population or more. If Columbia doubled her school maintenance, 
and then added to this $3 per pupil in average daily attendance, she 
would just reach the average expended per pupil in average daily 
attendance by the 1,233 cities of the United States having a popu- 
lation of 5,000 or more. She would have to increase her school ex- 



SUMMARY OF GENEEAL EECOMMENDATIONS. 189 

penditure by 42 per cent to reach the average expended per pupil in 
average daily attendance by the cities of the South Atlantic States 
having a population of 5,000 or more. 

Of the 179 cities listed by the United States Commissioner of Edu- 
cation as having a population ranging from 25,000 to 100,000, only 
two expended a smaller aggregate in 1915-16 for schools than did 
Columbia. One of these two cities, however, had less than one-half 
the number of school children which were enrolled in the Columbia 
schools and the other had less than two-thirds as many. For the 
same year the average aggregate amount expended by the 372 cities 
of this country having a population between 10,000 and 25,000 (a 
class of cities below that to which Columbia belongs) exceeded the 
total amount expended by Columbia for her schools by $15,457. 

The true tax rate of Columbia for all purposes comes within three 
numbers of being the lowest of all the cities of the United States 
having a population of 30,000 or over. Yet in actual assessable 
values, per capita of population, Columbia exceeds all but 11 of the 
213 cities having a population of 30,000 or above. 

Inasmuch, then, as Columbia is one of the 12 richest cities in the 
United States in property values, per capita of population, the com- 
mittee has no hesitation in saying that Columbia can well afford to 
carry into effect the recommendations made in this report. 



INDEX. 

Age distribution of cliildren, 169-172. 

Agricultural education, high schools, 63-74 ; recommendations, 185-186. 

All-year school. See Vacation school. 

Apportionment, school income, 21-23. 

Arithmetic, test, 141-154. 

Attendance. See Compulsory school attendance. 

Attendance officer, 166. 

Buildings, school, efforts to obtain suitable, 19-20. 

Census, school, 178-179. 

City employees, wage schedule, 32-33. 

City schools, deplorable conditions in 1883-84, 14. 

Columbia, historical sketch, 11-14. 

Columbia Academy, board of trustees, 15-16. 

Compulsory school attendance, 159-161 ; recommendations, 186. 

Cooperative schools, recommendation, 182. 

District of Columbia, teachers' pensions, 51-52. 

Evening classes, recommendations, 184—185. 

Examinations, 114-116. 

Exceptional child, education, 58-61, 62; recommendations, 186-187, 

Expectancy survival of one hundred pupils compared with actual survival, 

177-178. 
Expenditures, comparison with other cities, 23-24. 
Farming industry, Richland and Lexington counties, 63-64. 
Gardens. See T3<^me gardens. 
Grades, regrouping, recommendations, 180. 
High school, agricultural education, 63-74; senior, 164; university standing of 

graduates, 131-133. 
History, school, of one hundred Columbia pupils, 174^177. 
Home economics, instruction, 75, 80-97; recommendations, 185. 
Home gardens, school directed, 65-67; recommendations, 186; training of city 

teachers, 72-73. 
Johnson, David B., superintendent of schools, 16. 
Junior high school, 162-163, 164; recommendations, 187-188. 
Juvenile offenses, 69-72. 
Kindergarten, basic principles, 53 ; effect on promotion, 55 ; influence on primary 

education, 54-55 ; influence on- repetition in Michigan, 56 ; recommendations, 

184 ; situation in Columbia, 57-58. 
Libraries, school, 120-123. 
Manual arts, instruction, 75-97, 
Manual training, recommendations, 185. 
Manufacturing interests, 13-14. 
Measurement tests, educational, 134-154. 
Men teachers needed, 163-164. 

Meriam, Lewis, study of retirement of public employees, 48-50. 
Michigan, influence of kindergarten, 56. 

191 



192 INDEX. 

Negroes, elementary pupils, employment, 66 ; school population, 165-166 ; teach- 
ing of home economics, 90-92. 

Negro schools, recommendations, 185, 187. 

Over-age children, 168-173. 

Peabody fund, contribution to salary of superintendent, 16. 

Pennsylvania, teachers' pensions, 50-51. 

Pensions, teachers'. See Teachers' pensions. 

Playground, activities, 73-74; recommendations, 186. 

Population, 13. 

Population, school, 155-159, 165-166. 

Principals' salaries, 32. 

Promotions, 102-116; recommendations, 182-183, 187. 

Promotions and failures, statistics, 103-105, 107-110. 

Property, value per capita of population, 27. 

Public-school system, rise, 14-17. 

Pupil promotion, plan, 102-116. 

Recitation, neglect of pupils', 129-131. 

Recommendations, summary of general, 180-189. 

Recreation, activities, 73-74. 

Repeaters, 173-174. 

Repetition, influence of kindergarten, 56. 

Retirement funds for teachers. See Teachers' pensions. 

Salaries. .See Teachers' salaries, Principals' salaries. 

Scholarship distribution of pupils leaving school, 175. 

School census, accuracy, 155-159; value, 167-168. 

School courses, content, recommendations, 187 ; length, recommendations, 180. 

School lunches, 92-94. 

School maintenance tax, inadequacy, 20-21. 

School publicity, 188. 

Session, school, recommendations, 181-182. 

Soil survey, Richland County, 68-69. 

Spelling test, 136-141. 

Substitute teachers, problem, 101-102. 

Superannuation of teachers. See Teachers' pensions. 

Supervision, insufficient maintenance, 98-154; recommendations, 183-184. 

Support of schools, 18-30. 

Survey committee, personnel, 9. 

Taxation, school, 18-30. 

Teachers, marks, 110-114; men needed, 163-164; qualifications, 39^0, 43-44; 
retirement fund, 46-52 ; statistics of income and expenses, 35-37 ; substitute, 
problem, 101-102 ; tenure of office, 37^0 ; training for home gardening, 72-73. 

Teachers' pensions, discussion of the movement for, 47-52. 

Teachers' salaries, 31-34, 40-46; recommendations, 184. See also Principals' 
salaries. 

Tests, educational, 134-154. 

Textbooks, 124-125. 

Trades unions, wage schedule, 33. 

Vacation school, 61. 

Vocational education, 78-80 ; possibilities of agricultural instruction, 64-65. 

Women, occupations, 76-78. 



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